


What If? Making The Call

by Lyco



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Amanda Waller is not cool, F/F, F/M, Kahndaq, Moira answers, Nanda Parbat, Oliver makes that phone call to home, PTSD later on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-16 17:44:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 58
Words: 178,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3497168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyco/pseuds/Lyco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Oliver had been successful in reaching his mother when he made that call?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea that ran rampant in my head. The Arrow episode 3.13 definitely had me wanting to write this little what if possibility where Oliver actually was successful in reaching his mom. That stunt by Waller was just seriously not right. Anywho, hope you guys like! Also, I would like to mention that I am also posting this over at FF.Net as well

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What If?

Making The Call

As Oliver began to make the call to his mother in the hopes of finally going home. He was filled with a few emotions that were all fighting for the top spot in him. Particularly hope and fear. Hope that she would answer and actually believe what he's saying. And fear that she either wouldn't believe him or just wouldn't be able to reach her. Another part of that fear would be that he wouldn't wind up captured again by Waller if he was able to make successful contact with his mother. He had hated very few people in his life but Waller was definitely among those few that he did hate now. And if it was possible, he'd drive an arrow right into her cold blackened heart. Who knows, maybe he would get that chance somehow later on down the line. _Here goes nothing..._ He thought as the phone began to ring.

Hope soared within him once the phone was answered on the 3rd ring. But he still knew that the next few minutes would be the true deciding factor in everything. _"Hello? Moira Queen speaking."_ Came the voice of a woman that he hadn't heard from in what felt like too long of a time.

Getting a grip on himself lest he remain in shock like when he called Laurel that one and only time back on the island, he makes the next move. "Mom, its me. I'm alive and I swear to you that this is not a sick joke. Its really me." He spoke as earnestly as he possibly could, and held his breath of what was to come next.

A gasp could be heard next from the other end of the line. One he knew was likely from startled disbelief, and honestly he couldn't blame her either for it. _"O-Oliver? But how!? The Gambit was never found!"_ She cried out in disbelief, but with a bit of joy thrown in too at long last hearing her son's voice. A voice that a mother like herself could never forget when it came to her own child.

Oliver smiled in relief over her believing him. But knew he would have to be quick about things. "Believe me mom, I would love to tell you about it but all I can say is that I was extremely lucky. And when I get home I'll tell you and anyone else who wants to hear. But listen, I don't have much time, I need you to go to the news and have an announcement made that I am alive and in Hong Kong with no way to leave currently. Its the only way to prevent me from being captured by a government agency and used as their pawn again." Ohh how he wanted to put an arrow in that woman's heart. A thought he had had many a time. And he was pretty sure Maseo and even Tatsu would have been very willing to help make it happen too.

 _"What do you mean!? Why would an agency have you!?"_ Came her response, one filled with fear for her son.

Oliver could hear the fear in her voice but time was an issue for him. "I really can't explain right now mom, but please do this as soon as you possibly can. Please don't argue about this."

Hearing the urgency in his voice, Moira realized she needed to save her questions for later and quickly promised him that she would do it just as soon as they hung up. Even though hanging up was the last thing she wanted to do. _"I promise I will get right on it, I swear! I love you!"_

"I love you too mom, so much." The faltering in his voice could be easily heard. And then he hung up, knowing if he remained on the line much longer that it would be much harder for them both. Knowing, or at least hoping she understood.

A week would pass before he was found and brought home. A week that also included a brief and enforced visit in a room with Waller. Who had been outright furious with him for exposing the fact that he is alive, but vowed she would find a way to make use of him again whether he liked it or not. Then left him be to try and track down Maseo and his family. Something that had had him breathe out a huge sigh of relief. And as he boarded the plane that would take him home. He looked over at what he could see of Hong Kong and smiled. As freedom and home was finally happening for him.

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**Well here's to hoping I did well in my first Arrow fic. Would love to hear feedback!**


	2. Arrival

For Oliver, the plane ride home felt like it had taken forever to get him to where he truly wanted to be. Of course if things had been vastly different, Sara, Shado, and quite possibly Slade would be with him for this. He even thought that Anatoli might have been interested in coming along too. Same for the Yamashiros due to how close he felt he had gotten to the family. He prayed to whatever God that was listening that Waller had yet to find them. By now though, he knew it wasn't a good thing to dwell on the could have beens and the like. Of course it still liked to happen to him anyway cause hey, why not? But as the plane began to land, a relieved smile formed on his weary face as he was just one step closer to home. And what would likely be a very uncomfortable talk with his sister if what Waller said was true. Well, more so uncomfortable for her then him. Even at his worst before Lian Yu he hadn't been a junkie.  ** _Guess she felt the need to live up to it in more ways then one..._** He sadly thought to himself. He also wondered how aware their mother was of it. Something told him he wouldn't like the answer however.

Once getting the okay to disembark from the plane, he hurriedly did so. But made sure to keep a careful eye out for anything unpleasant. As a healthy dose of vigilant paranoia was good for him as far as he was concerned. As he made his way inside to where hopefully his remaining family would be to greet him, he pulled on the hood that once belonged to Yao Fei and later Shado as he worried about the potential ambush that would likely be happening from the press. And all the flashing lights really weren't something he wanted in his eyes. No telling what the disorientation might cause him to do from all of that. And the last thing he wanted was to spend a bit of time in jail for assault. Even if someone potentially deserved it.

The sight of his mom made him pause in his steps, barely even breathing at the sight of her after having not seen her for so long. His sister, good God his sister had started growing into a beautiful young lady and he knew he was going to have to do a lot of threatening against potential suiters that came a calling. And with his new skills he'd have a very easy time of intimidating them as well he thought to himself with an internal smirk. Though the bald man with the two of them, though familiar was someone he couldn't quite place at the moment. A part of him hoped his mother hadn't moved on. As selfish as that may have been to hope for. But that would be a bridge to deal with when the time came. For now, all he wanted to do was re-unite with his family, sleep in his bed if he could even do that, and visit the hospital for a much needed check up after all the crap he'd been through Though he knew there was no way he'd have Shado's tattoo removed despite how it happened.

As he stared at them in shock and happiness, Walter being the observant man he is took notice of the lone man that had recently arrived with his luggage. The feeling that this may perhaps be the young man himself returned and the sight of his mother and sister quite possibly too much for the moment was something he couldn't ignore. Though privately he did wonder how young Oliver would handle the news of his mother dating him. Nudging Moira gently he nodded in the arrival's direction and once Moira saw him, she began to walk towards him. Leaving Thea herself understandably confused, though one might even wonder if she herself may have been a bit high considering certain information. "Oliver?" Moira called out questioningly, hoping with everything in her that it was him.

Oliver could only nod in the affirmative, but it was more than enough for Moira as she ran towards him. Giving him one of the biggest, tightest hugs that only a mother could give that he'd had in quite some time. But nonetheless, happier then anything to be hugged by her. Thea quickly realizing things herself soon joined in the hug. Her big brother was back and hopefully that meant things could return to a normalcy of some kind. Though she did wonder about their father but felt it was best left alone til later. "Its good to have you home Ollie." Thea told him with pure emotion in his voice. Causing tears to finally come down his face over her words.

"Its... Its good to be home Speedy. You have no idea how good." Came his own response, though rough and filled with emotion as well in his own voice.

Moira's own tears began, as well as sounds of happiness. Walter was a little choked up himself at the scene of the family re-united and was grateful for the lack of media representers in the room with them. For such a scene should not be ruined by their vulture like selves. And after several minutes of the scene in front of him. He cleared his throat gently, though he detested in doing so but he knew that they would best likely to prefer being behind closed doors to continue the celebrations. Oliver looked up at him in surprise, honestly having forgotten the man was there. And Walter seemingly having sensed the man's confusion went onwards. "I think it best we head towards home now, while okay to celebrate your return here. I believe doing so at home would be more pleasant for the 3 of you." Walter told them, the unspoken statement of the press also being less likely to ruin it all as well.

Moira nodded her own understanding despite having buried her head into Oliver's shoulder.  ** _Trust Walter to think of that._** She thought to herself fondly, his words having made her fall just a bit more for the man. Who had done his level best to pull her out of the funk she had fallen into since the loss of Robert and Oliver. And she knew that there would likely be some tensions to arise when her son learned of her relationship with Walter.

Moira cleared her throat in an effort to be able to speak clearly. Though she figured it may not be entirely effective. "Y-yes, Walter's right sweetheart. We should get home to continue this in private." She smiled up at her son, the happiness in her eyes evident. The action allowed her to look into her son's eyes as well and she could see that there was a hint of something very different in them despite the happiness his own shown.

He nodded his understanding of the rather welcoming idea. Thea also reluctantly pulled away from him so that they could get moving, but she kept an arm around her big brother while he too did the same for her. Walter moved to grab Oliver's bags as he figured the young man would likely wish to wrap his other arm around his mother's shoulders. Oliver got the general idea rather quickly and smiled gratefully at the man. And soon the 4 were off, though Moira had a sudden sense of dread fill her as she knew the press was waiting for them to come out of the airport. Also sending out a silent prayer that neither Malcolm or Quentin would be around as well for various reasons.


	3. Home and Reactions

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea you see for this story.**

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It had been several hours since Oliver's return home and he'd yet to rise from his deep slumber. Something he had quickly gone for due to a lack of being unable to sleep properly on the plane ride home. During the ride home, he had even mentioned he had no wish to go to the Hospital at the time. Choosing to wait and possibly go tomorrow as he really just wanted to sleep and didn't want to mess with being poked and prodded. His wanting to get some rest had made for a slightly upset Thea as she had wanted to spend more time with her big brother, while Raisa herself was just overjoyed to have the young man home. Moira had her own bit of misgivings about it but could plainly see how tired he was and didn't rase as much of a fuss as Thea had. She was also worried about what the doctors may say when the time came. Despite the hours that had passed, the joy Moira felt had yet to dissipate. Walter still being there also added on to the joy as she had wanted him to stick around longer. And part of her was starting to consider asking the man to move in with her.

Which was something she didn't think he would be hard pressed to argue about with. Oliver however may be a completely different story while Thea had already started to see Walter as a step father of sorts. Which was something her daughter had shared with her recently and had filled her heart with joy. And she knew when Walter himself learned of it he'd be just as happy as well.

Of course a part of her was hoping it might even make the normally unflappable man possibly tear up a little from it. Just so that she could potentially tease him over it at a later time in good natured fun. The two were currently in the living room with the television on awaiting the evening news. Though Moira felt a slight sense of dread over it due to how the media had quickly descended upon them after walking out of the entrance to the airport and making it to their limo. Especially with how Oliver had reacted to one question that was asked.

Music for the evening news was then heard coming from the television. And a reporter began to speak soon afterwards. " _Tonight's top story is the return of Oliver Queen, whom previously was thought to be dead until his mother claimed otherwise after a press conference she gave days earlier. Many were said to be in disbelief over her announcement and wondered if the mother of two had finally given into a sense of despair. A sense of despair that would wind up causing her to come on to television. But now the proof is right before our eyes. Footage of Mr. Queen shows us that the young Queen Scion has clearly changed. But how far that change has gone is so far unknown._ " Moira understandbly had narrowed her eyes over the sense of despair bit but decided to leave it be. As she had other things to deal with.

The footage mentioned was soon shown as many reporters threw questions at them as they tried to get past the mob of reporters and the like. Seemingly egged on by the 'no comment' line and the silence of Oliver himself. Until one question finally seemed to hit a nerve with the young man. " _Mr. Queen! Mr. Queen! Did you intentionally bring Sara Lance on board the 'Queen's Gambit' as if you possibly knew what was going to happen later?_ " Everyone had gone quiet after that as if they were shocked. And quite likely were at that too.

Oliver could then be seen looking at the reporter with a very intense glare. And now having seen it for herself, Moira felt a shiver go down her spine as she hoped something like that wouldn't ever be sent in her direction from her own son. Pulling the hood back so that everyone could see him glaring better as if to give off a more intimidating look, he replied with a barely controlled rage in his voice. " _Before the Island, I may have been a jerk. But I was NEVER that kind of a jerk. It was NEVER my intention for Sara Lance to die, and had I known what would happen I never would have even invited her. Much less keep myself or my father from getting on board. And I swear, if you or anybody else asks me something that disgusting again. I will do WHATEVER it takes to break every single damn bone in their body. Understand?_ " By the end, his rage could be clearly heard in his words and the reporter nodded mutely in fear.

Moira winced at that as she knew that was going to require a little PR work to fix. But part of her could understand why he was angry. Really, the one who had asked clearly had no tact and was no better then a member of the Paparazzi.  _Suppose I should expect a call from Malcolm soon now that this has aired._ She thought to herself, though hoping he'd leave her be for the time being.

**Elsewhere at Tommy's home**

Tommy had been alone for the last 30 minutes after Laurel had left to go pick her dad up from whatever bar he had been in. And was currently on the couch channel surfing whle wishing Laurel hadn't left. That girl was quickly turning into someone he was really beginning to care for and even possibly love. But he knew trying to get her to believe that would be an uphill battle. Not to mention her obvious feelings she still had for the man he considered a brother in all but blood. Her father's views were something of an issue, but he wasn't necessarily concerned about that for now as he figured it'd be a bridge he'd cross when it was the time. Though he never had any intentions of introducing her to his father for as long as he could avoid it. The man was just a cold hearted S.O.B. and the less he had him around in his life the happier he was.

The news soon caught his eye, and watching it all in complete silence with a heavy dose of shock added to it. It was another ten minutes that he leapt up from his couch in joy at the news that his brother was home. Although he was a little guilty now as he had had trouble believing in what his surrogate mother was saying.  _Maybe Ollie knows something about Hong Kong?_ He really hoped he did, but wasn't quite sure he wanted to know. But that'd be another bridge to cross when the time came. For now he needed to get over to his best buddy's house, not even really thinking that Oliver might not be wanting visitors.

**At a random bar**

The inside of the bar that one Quentin Lance and his older daughter Laurel Lance were in could be described as loud after both Lances had seen the news report. Laurel herself was trying to get her father to calm down and prevent him from drinking more while also at the same time fight back tears of her own from coming down her face. Quentin could be heard screaming at the unfairness of it all and that it should be his daughter who had returned and not that rich pretty boy jerk who got his little girl killed.

And in other various areas of the world such as Nanda Parbat, Russia, and wherever the heck Slade was at. Two people were pretty happy to know that Oliver was alive and well, even though one of them couldn't leave to greet him due to everyone still thinking she's dead. Though part of her hoped he would keep his promise she made him do. Anatoli was already making plans to head to Starling to give his favorite American a hug. And Slade, well Slade was not a happy camper as the room he was currently in could attest too. But he had no intention of starting anything just yet. As he thought he'd give the kid he once saw as a brother some time to be home before making his life Hell.

As for Maseo who was lucky enough to see the news cast from whatever location he and his family were in, all he did was smile at the fact his friend had made it home. But knew that Waller was likely to be a very unhappy woman.


	4. Brothers Reunited

**Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the general idea for the story I am writing.**

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For Tommy, Oliver's returning home just 3 days away from the big birthday bash he was planning for himself was a fantastic sign in his view of things. Although considering what he and Laurel were doing lately, he hoped that things wouldn't turn ugly on the big night. That is if she even came for the event anyway. After managing to make it to the Queen mansion in even record time for him and wondering later on if possibly divine intervention had been on his side. He hurriedly made his way to the front door of the mansion and pressed the door bell button. The wait was unexpected short as Raisa herself opened the door up with a smile on her face. "I had a feeling you would be here pretty soon Mr. Tommy. And what do you know? I was right! Even if a bit late." She told him in a teasing way, one much like an aunt might do actually.

Tommy smiled good naturedly at the woman who he actually did see as something of an aunt as she gestured to him to come in. Hugging her and leaving a kiss on her forehead as he did so. "Well you know me, I like to be fashionably late at times." Came his own joking reply.

Chuckling at the young man's response, she led him to the front room to be seated where Moira and Walter were still seated. Walter merely nodded in the young Merlyn's direction while an amused smile of Moira's own could be clearly seen. "Oh Tommy, I should have known you'd be here once seeing that news report. Though I have the strangest feeling you likely broke a few speeding laws to get here didn't you?" Honestly though, she loved the young man like he were a second son to her. And though even she knew she likely wasn't exactly the best mother around, Tommy still needed a mother figure in his life. If only to combat the harshness his own father emitted towards his own son.

Moira's own teasing got him to smile again as he hugged her. "Well Mrs. Queen, that would be telling now wouldn't it?" Walter himself had a brief chuckle at the response young Tommy gave.

"But I'm afraid your visit will be a short one though as my son is still asleep as he has been since we got home earlier." Moira told him kindly, inwardly hoping however that he might choose to leave to allow her son more time to rest before inevitably the two were likely to get up to something or other now that Oliver was back home. Fate it seemed however, had other ideas.

"Oh, actually Mr. Oliver is in the shower right now." Raisa mentioned as she passed by the front room to do whatever it was that needed doing currently. Moira looked upwards and rolled her eyes good naturedly at the timing of it all.

Tommy just smiled again at his surrogate mom, and vowed to get Raisa a nice gift basket of some kind pretty soon. It was then that Thea showed up and when she noticed Tommy in the room, she let out a fake groan of disappointment. Causing everyone again to chuckle. "Boy, my brother's barely been back and already here you are looking to get him into trouble." She told him jokingly, Tommy merely stuck his tongue out at her in reply.

Thea wrinkled her nose in slight disgust at him. "Real mature Tommy, and oh yeah. Eww." In response to that, he just stuck his tongue out at her again.

It was then that Oliver himself walked into the room still drying out his long hair. Wearing a khaki colored button up shirt and some black slacks. Elements of clothing he had taken to wearing while in Hong Kong. "Man it feels good to take a nice long shower. Never really could do that where I was before..." He trailed off as after he stopped drying his head off it was then that he noticed Tommy there. And a slight sense of guilt crept up in him for having to kidnap his brother in all but blood but shook it off as it was something to deal with later.

Regarding him for a moment, Oliver then spoke up. "Tommy Merlyn."

Tommy had raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sight of his best friend and brother. As the man was obviously in need of a shave for one thing. He then decided to reply in kind. "Oliver Queen."

The two began to walk towards each other quietly, while everyone else just smiled at their antics. Then they two broke out into smiles and hugged, as finally the brothers had been reunited. "Yachts suck buddy, and I hope that's something you'll forever agree with me on." Tommy told him jokingly, though really hoping no one would get too offended by that. Of course the fact it was him no one there would get that way. Though a smack or two on the arm was likely to happen.

"Oh trust me, I'm well aware of that now. Freighters also suck too." Came the response, though it did leave them wondering just where the freighter came into play.

Though he looked confused, Tommy didn't let it stop him for long. "Something tells me there's a story there buddy, but we got plenty of time for that."

Oliver nodded, relieved no one pushed it. "Yeah, plenty of time alright. Maybe I'll be ready in 20 years or so." He told him jokingly but also somewhat seriously. Causing everyone else to feel taken aback by the remark.

Moira, sensing that it was best the two be left alone for the time being spoke up. "Well, we'll just go elsewhere and leave the two of you here to talk amongst yourselves." Knowing there would always be plenty of time for gatherings like theirs. Thea went to protest as she wasn't exactly eager to leave, but a look from Moira surprisingly caused her to stay quiet.

"Actually Mrs. Queen, I could use a snack. So if Ollie doesn't mind, he and I could talk in the kitchen?" Though slightly surprised, Moira just smiled once more. Ignoring that they could always just ask Raisa to bring something from the kitchen.

The two boys quickly headed out but not before Oliver hugged his mother and sister and gave Walter a nod. One that was returned. Getting theirselves quickly to the kitchen, Oliver sat down at a near by table for preparing food. He watched quietly as Tommy went about the kitchen preparing his snack, pausing only to ask if Oliver wanted anything and getting a nod in return. "So, I can safely say that you came back just in time for the final episodes of 'Lost' buddy. And can I just say that Thea seems to be growing up quite nicely? Which I will never comment on again." He quickly said after the slight glare he got from Oliver. Which to be honest, was a bit on the scary side and having him wonder how he learned to do that.

Oliver nodded in satisfaction after seeing that his glare was a success. Just because he was a brother to him, didn't mean he was going to let him talk like that about Thea. Or pretty much any other boy who might be interested in his little sister. As far as he was concerned, she didn't need to date ANY boy until she was at least 30. As he himself had once been a boy and knew how most minds of theirs worked. Resolving to ask his sister about her dating life, despite the fact a part of him didn't want to know just what she might have been getting up too with said boys. He then also considered various methods he could use to successfully intimidate would be suitors. Not realizing that his quiet contemplation had kept him from seeing that Tommy's snack, which was a PB and J sandwich was being offered to him. "Oh... Sorry, I got to thinking about a few things." He muttered quietly while looking at the sandwich offered to him before taking it.

Tommy raised an eyebrow at him before deciding to ask about what those things were. "Oh, you know. Just stuff. Nothing I really want to get into right now." And then taking a bite of his sandwich and quickly scrunching up his face in disgust but eating it anyway as he was a bit on the hungry side. He could always go out into the woods or something later to get food he could likely handle.

"Something wrong with your sandwich man?" Tommy asked concernedly.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Just that nearly after 3 years something like this just isn't something I'm used too anymore." Oliver responded quietly.

Tommy frowned at that and understandably felt saddened over it. However, as he had nothing that he felt he could say that would help. He chose to change the subject. Something Oliver was actually grateful for. "So... I"m thinking birthday party slash welcome home party. What do ya say?" Tommy asked, hoping like crazy his best friend would say yes.

To his surprise, Oliver groaned at the idea. "I get why you want to, but seriously come on man... I just got back. I'm in no shape to be doing anything like that. Maybe, maybe somewhere down the line when I'm more settled in. But not... Right now." Tommy then went from surprised to shocked at that.

"Oh come on! Its the the perfect you need! A little fun and possibly a little trouble mixed in together and you'll have the full on proper welcome home!" Tommy exclaimed, trying to conjole him.

Oliver leveled him with an intense look on his face. "Those two things are exactly what led to this particular night to begin with Tommy. And after what I've been through, some peace and quiet is exactly what I'm wanting right now."

"But Ollie.." Tommy tried yet again, but a low growl from Oliver of all people silenced him.

"Alright, I understand man. Fair enough." He chose to wisely concede it to him. Thinking that maybe the other man had a point.  _Jeez... Just what the Hell happened to him?_  He thought to himself despondently.

Oliver grunted in approval of that and went back to trying to finish his sandwich. And Tommy decided to be smart and eat his. Followed shortly after by the two beginning to talk about other things for several hours. And as Tommy drove away later that night, he considered that at least that bit of time was something of a victory to have. As he had come to realize it was going to take time for his best friend to re-adjust. And he planned to help out as best he could. Though he knew Laurel was unlikely to be happy about it considering the circumstances. But it would be just another bridge to cross and deal with when the time came.


	5. When Waller Came a Knockin'

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea for this story. And as always, enjoy!**

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The 2 days up until today had, in Oliver's point of view been pretty damn nice. Even despite the occasional badgering he got from Tommy about partying it up in a welcome home bash. And while that would have been pretty appealing in his pre-Island days, now it didn't hold much water for him. He'd try and give it a good while before he would go for some fun like that. After all, the crap he went through continued to weigh heavily on him. The third day of being home again and the joys of it pretty much got shot to Hell when he found himself at his dad's old factory with none other then Amanda Waller awaiting him. The huge amount of rage he felt in him was something he wasn't sure if he should have been surprised about or not. But with the company she was keeping with her at the time, he knew it was a very wise idea to keep it in check.

She had brung him bad news in the form of Chien Na Wei being in Starling City with the bio-weapon that Maseo had been forced to give to her and was planning to sell it to the highest bidder. Of course a big part of him just didn't give a crap, knowing it was like that just to spite the Hell Beast known as Amanda Waller. She pretty much gave him no choice but to be a part of this unless he wanted to be in serious trouble and or suffer another loss in the family. And that he'd be working with Agent 'Bob' as the man preferred to be called on this mission. Who obviously in Oliver's point of view, had lost his sense of humor a long time ago just by looking at the man. The bad news continued after he saw his sister with the drug dealer later on back at his house. And he had to agree with Tommy about the things he had said to Thea.

Of course, the talk not having gotten entirely through to his sister gave him the idea that his own talk likely would go just as well. But he had to try anyway. And now, here he was in the office of what used to be his father's hiding in a corner after some blonde girl showed up to drop off something. Although he had a fairly sure idea that the office now was his mothers. And that whole thing about Walter he had heard his sister talking about was another thing he was going to have to bring up at some point. But hey, he had plenty of time. That is if he survived this damn night thanks to Waller. He had to admit however, watching the blonde girl proved to be one of the more humorous experiences he had had in quite some time. Not even realizing at first that he had started to smile. Heck if he was still his old playboy self, he would even go for it with her and not give a crap about the consequences all that much.

But after being around Shado, Tatsu, and Waller for the last near 3 years. He had gained a hell of a lot more respect for women. That and trying things with girls was the last thing on his mind pretty much. But he did have the inkling of having a little fun and came out of his hiding spot. Causing her to startle a little. "Oh. I didn't know you were there!" Not even really realizing who he was at first.

"Wait, who are you exactly? You really shouldn't be in here you know, cause you could likely get arrested for that and getting arrested sucks. Or at least from what I've seen and heard anyway. And now I'm babbling... 3, 2, 1." The smile couldn't be helped now as it was in full force after experiencing the girl's babble fest.

"Hey, no worries. Its okay for me to be here. You see, actually my mom had me come by here to find something she thought she left here. But I'm not seeing it." He hoped to whatever was listening out there that he was convincing enough. Luckily for him it worked.

"Your mother?" She asked him curiously.

Oliver nodded at her. "Yep, Moira Queen? Me being Oliver Queen? Long lost son recently turned?" He replied jokingly.

She looked on at him in shock, wishing she could hit herself for not realizing it sooner. But hey, in her defense the man did have the raggedy look going for him in the hair department! "Oh, oh my God! I am so sorry!"

"Ah no worries, no harm done! Anyways, I need to get out of here and let my mom know that what she wanted wasn't here." He told her as he walked towards the door before turning back to her.

"Oh yeah, by the way. What's your name?" His curiosity was getting the best of him, but hey he couldn't resist not knowing!

Felicity seemed a little surprised he would even ask her. Since she was just an IT girl after all and likely no where near his type. "Um.. Felicity. Felicity Smoak." She managed to get out despite her surprise and the shock of the evening. Privately wondering how much he might have heard. Cause then she would be absolutely mortified.

Oliver nodded again with that smile still present on his face. "Well, nice to meet you. See ya!" And with that, he was out the door before Felicity said anything else.

"Y-yeah, see ya." She called out softly, then shook herself and got back to work.

**An hour and a half later...**

The enjoyment he had been feeling during his encounter with one Felicity Smoak had long since drained in the last hour and a half after having snuck into Tommy's party and learning that his brother and Laurel are seeing one another, then dealing with the drug dealing punk who was selling his baby sister garbage. Said punk was currently in his grasp before being thrown over the edge to help further aide his cause in making the punk dead as if by accident. And now here he is contemplating the message from his father after telling Waller and 'Bob' that he was done.  _Damnit... I have to go help._ He thought to himself despondently and made to hurry to do so before anybody who may be in the mansion saw him.

And it seemed after taking twenty minutes to get there, that he had arrived just in time as well as he was hearing gunshots from the inside of the building. Which proved to be oh a big ton of no fun at all in his honest opinion. But he was pretty surprised he managed to cause Na Wei and her transport to wreck with his gun. That would be a story to tell and likely get free drinks for! Well, so long as he wasn't killed afterwards for saying anything anyway. And after Chien Na Wei was knocked out, 'Bob' regarded him a moment before cutting loose with what he felt was a biting remark. "That's a horrible disguise kid, not even grease paint would help it." Oliver could only roll his eyes before looking at the guy who had the package they needed handcuffed to him.

And after a rather impressive little threat from Oliver. The 4 were then on their way back to Waller's meeting point. Where hopefully he would never have to deal with any of them again for a really long time. Although he swore internally to one day go find Waller and put one of his arrows straight into her cold blackened heart! Of course the long tiring as hell debrief with General Shrive was definitely in his list of things he'd rather NOT have been doing. But life it had seemed just wanted to keep screwing him over. And by the time he had arrived home thanks to the General, it was already pretty close to 8 in the morning. Of course Laurel, Thea, and Tommy would be in the front yard due to those two getting a call from Thea to get a ride home as his escort arrived. Just another example that life liked to screw with him it seemed like in his view. Naturally all 3 would look on as the Hummer got closer before stopping to let him out. "Yes, thank you Mr. Army Man. Please give you know who my hate." He muttered sarcastically to the driver as he closed the door.

Which earned him some looks from the 3 also present. Thea wound up being the first to speak up. "Jeez big brother, you look like crap. Wild night out go wrong?" She asked snarkily with a little smirk in place. Oliver tiredly looked over at her with a mild glare that did nothing to deter her.

"Oh yes, it was wild. Just not in the way you are thinking. I woulda been just as happy if it NEVER even had happened. But noooooo certain Hell Hounds just had to show up in my life again." His tired state of mind after the day and night's events had left him really wanting to just unwind. But knew how bad an idea it'd be if he did so with these 3. Lives at stake and all that.

Tommy being Tommy just had to ask. "Hell Hounds? Bro, it sounds to me that you shoulda went with my suggestion!" He only got a grunt at that in return. Laurel only stood there regarding Oliver like she would something that was on the bottom of her shoe and was quite disgusting. Not that Oliver particularly even cared at the moment.

"Whatever Tommy, I don't have the energy to argue with you right now. And Thea? You and I need to have a little talk soon." He told her with a finger pointed at her before tiredly walking off to the inside of the house. Leaving all three to possibly wonder what he could need to talk with her about.

Thea looked on at Oliver's back until he was out of sight who was also attempting to try and remove his shirt, but was having difficulty in doing so before she turned back to Tommy and Laurel. "Well.. Guess I'll see you two love birds later then." She muttered to them with a hint of snark still present before walking on to the inside of her home as well. The two nodded and went about their way as well.


	6. A Confrontation

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea for this story. Warning however, unpleasantness ahead.**

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By the time Oliver woke up again that day after the fairly tiring night he had, it was close to 6:30 in the evening. Although unfortunately he had had to deal with nightmares during the occasions when he did sleep until now. These nightmares seemed to be a new and annoying occurrence that started up after he had gotten home a few days ago. Why now and not before coming home did this happen, he was unsure of. But knew that eventually if it kept happening that a trip to see a doctor was going to be needed. Heck as it is, he still needed to get a check up to see how he was doing after all that time away. Getting on his feet wearily after grabbing his shirt off the floor. He pulled it on and then headed towards his bedroom door, wondering who all would be at home at the moment. Though personally he was hoping Thea would be around so that a possible un-interrupted and much needed talk could happen. Course he had the feeling it was not gonna be pretty once the conversation got going.

As for Thea herself, she was currently channel surfing in the front room. Having gotten up not too long ago herself and still wondering a little on what it was that her big brother needed to talk to her about. Part of her hoped it would be at least about one of his experiences during the time away as a way for the two to be able to re-connect again and bond in sibling love. Of course had she known what he had in mind, she wouldn't have been as enthusiastic. The sounds of foot steps alerted her to someone coming near by. And to her delight it was her brother headed towards her. Who honestly in her opinion looked like crap. The long hair and the facial hair really didn't help the look either. Someone really needed to get on his case about doing something. And soon!

"Well hey there sleepyhead! Sorry to say, but you look like crap bro!" Her teasing earned her a grunt that sounded kind of amused from Oliver.

Quickly sitting down next to her, he let out a sigh and then looked over at his sister. "Yeah, I had trouble sleeping actually. No big deal." Well hopefully no big deal anyway. He really didn't want to get put on pills or have to see a therapist or some such like that.

Thea however looked at him as she wasn't that quite inclined to agree that it wasn't a big deal. Because honestly, if he looked that bad in her view then it had to be a fairly big deal. She wondered if he had looked into a mirror yet and was just possibly in denial? "I don't know about that Ollie, if you had looked into a mirror before coming down you probably wouldn't be saying that." She told him with doubt in her voice over his line of thinking.

 _Damn, here I was hoping she would just let it go._ Oliver grumbled to himself in his thoughts.

"Speedy, its nothing to worry about okay? If it was, I would say something." He decided to say, hoping it would be enough to placate her.

It didn't, but she decided to let it go for now. And then decided to ask him about that talk he wanted to have with her. The change in topic was something he was grateful for, even if it had him a bit on the worried side. "This talk Speedy, concerns something I saw yesterday that I honestly didn't care for in seeing." He chose to just come on out with it instead of beating around the bush.

 _Oh God, please for the love of God and great fashion that he's talking about something else. Please!_ Came the very worried thought now running around in Thea's head, even though on the outside she tried to look as calm as possible.

"Oh? Do tell big brother, do tell." She really hoped it was not about her drug use.

Oliver braced himself for what he was about to say next. "Yesterday... I was out in the woods and I saw saw... I saw you at those grave markers with that drug dealer."

 _Damn!_ She cried out in her head, and not that happy anymore.

"Okay? What about it Ollie?" Had she known that response was the wrong thing to do she would have thought it out better.

"What do you mean 'what about it!?' You know exactly what its about! I thought you knew better then that crap Thea!" He yelled out in surprise, clearly also just as unhappy she was now.

Thea got off the couch they had been sitting on to look down at her brother with an incredulous look on her face. "Would you calm down? Its honestly not a big deal! I mean yeah, he's dead now but still." Really, she didn't get why he seemed to be making such a big deal about it. As honestly? She was pretty aware of the kind of stuff he pulled back in the day. So he really didn't have much right to say anything as far as she was concerned.

Oliver got off the couch as well with an angry look on his face that could be easily seen by anyone. He was also shocked at how nonchalant his little sister was being over it all. What the hell had his mother been thinking!? Was she even aware of this? However, a little voice in the back of his head told him that even if she had known. It was possible that like with him, she just let it happen. But he really hoped he was wrong.

"No big deal!? No big deal!? Its a seriously huge damn big deal Thea! Doing that crap is practically like posioning your own body! I don't know what the Hell that guy gave you, but the worst I EVER did was Pot. What he sold you is likely something that could land you in jail, and that is the last thing I want where you are concerned!" He ranted at her, shock and anger clearly heard in his voice.

And honestly? It had pretty much pissed off Thea for how hypocritical he was being. "Why are you being such a hypocrite about this!? I'm just pretty much following in your foot steps after all. And I'm still dealing with you actually being alive and I just need something to help take the pressure off okay?!" The thought of him being a hypocritical ass was running rampant in her mind.

"My foot steps!? Who the Hell said that I EVER wanted you to follow in my foot steps!? I know I damn well didn't! This isn't the kind of life I want for you to have little sister. And if I have to be a hypocrite to get through you. Then damn it, I will!" He told her imploringly, and a little hurt over the accusation thrown his way. The sense of failure he was feeling too wasn't helping either at the example he apparently managed to give his sister.

If Thea hadn't of been so angry, she might have been able to see where he was coming from. But at that moment, her anger was blinding her to that. "Oh you can go to Hell Ollie! You have no right to judge me at all considering all the stupid things you did!" Not bothering to look into his eyes that would clearly show the hurt in them at her words. She angrily attempted to walk past him.

But he clearly had other ideas in mind when he grabbed her arm. "Thea... Please... Just listen!" He tried again imploringly.

"Let go of my arm you ass! This may not be the life you want for me, but its mine and that's all there is too it!" Was her response.

He tried to talk to her again, but was surprised when she pushed him away from her a bit forcefully. The surprise of it caused him to lose his grip on her arm as he wound up falling back on to the couch. "Like I said you hypocritical ass, go to Hell!" And with that parting shot, she angrily stomped away towards the stairs, likely headed to her room.

Leaving Oliver to move to the edge of the couch and bury his face into his hands.  _Damn it!_  He thought sourly, unaware that outside of the front room was Raisa.

Who had her own tears coming down her face as she put both her hands in fromt of her mouth. Thea's anger had allowed her to miss seeing her there. The long time maid to the family had been unfortunate to witness over hearing the rather explosive argument between the two siblings when originally she had been planning to come in there to make sure everything was all nice and tidy.  _Oh Mr. Oliver, I truly wish that had gone differently for the two of you._ She thought to herself sadly.


	7. Big Brother's Fiery Wrath

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story.**

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The past few days since the argument with Thea had been some tense filled days. The argument Oliver wound up getting into with his mother after she learned the two siblings weren't speaking with one another really hadn't helped either. As after all, most parents really didn't take too well to being called out on their parenting skills. Although Moira had to be honest with herself that she was a bit proud of her son for the maturity he's gained since his time away. And as well as the fact that he truly is his sister's big brother. She just wished the conversation with her eldest had gone differently, but still she knew he had made a particularly good point about the sort of presence she'd had in her daughter's life. She hoped it wouldn't come to something drastic to get through to her daughter. But she would do her damndest to start doing better by Thea.

Even Tommy had quickly become aware of what was going on after Thea had ranted to him about what her hypocritical ass of a brother had tried with her. Of course she wound up about as equally unhappy with Tommy too after he basically went 'I told you so' on her. And because Tommy knew, Laurel knew too sometime afterwards. And though she still cared a lot for the younger Queen, she had intended to stay out of it and let the two siblings work it out for themselves. She did hope though that Oliver could get through to his sister, but due to his own stupid mistakes in the past like cheating on her. That was very likely going to be an uphill battle for him. Of course the more vindictive side of her felt it served his cheating ass right.

As for Walter and Raisa, they wisely stayed out of it as best they could. And as for Oliver? Well he had taken to following his little sister around as discreetly as possible whenever she went into the city. The experience had left him wishing he had something to cover his face so that he could scare the ever loving hell out of his sister's so called friends. But the drug dealers his sister had come into contact with did wind up dead sometime later on due to what Oliver claimed in his head as justifiable cause. The fact he wasn't a hundred percent bothered by what he had done likely should have disturbed him. But he would rationalize it as doing what's best for his sister. Though he knew that if she found out, she likely wouldn't see it that way at all. Course life could always surprise you.

Unfortunately though, Oliver hadn't exactly come out of the encounters entirely unscathed in the end. As one of the dealers had got him pretty good with a hard punch in the shoulder. The same shoulder in fact that Yao Fei nearly 3 years prior to now had shot an arrow in to. Now it had given him issues before but it was being unusually bothersome this time. He really hoped it wasn't meaning anything serious as he still wasn't quite ready for that trip to the hospital. But for the time being, he needed to push that to the back of his mind as he had other things to focus on. Namely like the building in front of him that he was across from on another building. Why the focus on the building you ask?

Well mainly because he had gotten the bright idea to follow one of Thea's drug dealers to see where he might be getting his goods to sell. And the task had led him straight here and the stake out had proved it was the right location. Granted, he wasn't naïve enough to think this was the only drug den in town. But at least this one was about to go up in flames.  _Its gonna get hot tonight._ He thought morbidly to himself.

He was glad he had worn the hood to help better conceal himself, even if he was in the Glades for this. Better to be safer then sorry after all. Along with the rest of his outfit being black too for good measure. And prior to coming up to the roof, he had made damn sure to block off all possible escape routes. For a very obvious drug den, it was poorly guarded. But he figured that they obviously felt that no one was stupid enough to try anything.  _Hmph, I'm not stupid. But I am damn well determined to end your poisonous means. Should have still been smart about things fellas._

Looking down as he dipped his gasoline coated arrow tip into a small fire he had going on the rooftop, he quickly fired it into one of the windows. One that luckily enough for him was broken enough to allow entry. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he quickly fired three more arrows into several other windows. The flames quickly spread, and he had to hazard a guess that the inside of the place was in poor condition to have been able to do so. Or maybe perhaps, one of his arrows had hit vital equipment. Either way, he was feeling satisfied it was going fairly well. He also had to thank the internet for having instructions on how to make a Molotov Cocktail. One of which he just so happened to have with him as well.

That was something he had also made damn well sure to have gloves on for when putting it together and holding it. Like he was now. Looking at the building with a grim look on his features, he prepared to throw it into another near by window. "You and your poisons have failed this city." He muttered to himself, not really thinking that perhaps some of his father's words had struck a chord in him. But in time he would and would make use of it very well.

Chucking the Molotov into the window he had intended, he nodded again in grim satisfaction that it was a success. Though he couldn't have known that it was around some fairly volatile lab equipment. Said equipment causing for a particularly big bang that sped up what he was doing. He could even hear their screams now. Another explosion tore out a section of the wall and the window he had thrown the Molotov into. It had unfortunately caught him by surprise that a sharp piece of debris had gotten him in the hurting shoulder before he was able to duck down in time to avoid getting hit. He slowly inched away from his previous position in the hope it would help to avoid more flying debris.

The screams of those inside continued as the flames from his arrows and the Molotov's extra effect rapidly spread everywhere. And he continued to watch with a cold detachment about him until he quietly and hurriedly left the area before he could be seen, as getting arrested for arson was definitely not on his list of things to do. But not before putting out his little fire source. His work done for now, and stuffing his bow in a bag he had thought to bring with him. He set off on foot to eventually get himself a cab back home.

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**Author's Notes: Now you might think this would be extremely out of character for Oliver to do, but remember this is him pretty much starting on the path to being the Hood (and later Arrow) and gradually growing as he does until then. Being the obviously dangerous individual Waller even seemed to think he could be. And it being his sister he's doing this for, he's gonna do what he feels he has to.**


	8. Delusional Happenings Part 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea you see within this story. And with that said, let's get it on!**

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It had been several days since the drug den in the Glades had been burned to the ground. And the reason behind it had been nowhere to be seen. Which had both the police and Oliver's friends and family worried. Though the worry was for some very obviously different reasons. The police had promised to find the one or ones responsible and hadn't really said much else on the matter since. And Thea, despite her anger towards her brother kept swearing she was hearing noises in his room. But had yet to look inside there as honestly she was afraid to do it with out someone like Walter or Tommy around. Naturally Walter had chosen not to be around as much to avoid a potential scene with Oliver in case he had found out about his mother being with him now. As the two weren't quite sure he was ready to handle it just yet. Plus him being busy is another reason for why Thea hadn't had the chance to ask him herself about checking in on her big brother.

Which was why she was currently next to his door waiting for Tommy to arrive as it was high time to find out what was going on. Sure she could have done this at a much earlier time but she had been hoping it wasn't anything bad. Though Thea had mentioned it to her mother, the woman had felt it wasn't anything to worry about. And she knew her mom was likely just trying to feel like everything was as normal as could be. Even thinking that maybe he just had a guest in his room. She had even told him to bring a bat or something like that as a just in case kind of thing. Soon Tommy made an appearance, along with the bat too. Which made her feel somewhat safer. "Alright Thea, I'm here now. Let's go find out why that jerk hasn't said crap to me recently. I swear thuogh, if he's got a girl in there. We are going to have a very serious talk about manners." He jokingly told her, but she could sense the seriousness in his words.

He tested the door to find it unlocked, which was a plus for him and Thea as far as he was concerned. Reaching to turn on the light as he was coming in allowed him and Thea to quickly see that the room looked like a mess. And the window being left open like it was made things a bit worrisome. "Yep, we are definitely having that talk now." He muttered seriously to himself but Thea could still hear him anyway.

She looked at him worriedly as he looked around the room, a bit scared to move and join the search in case she found something she really wasn't going to like. "T-Tommy... I think we need to go let mom know about this." He nodded at her words and the two quickly left.

The two managed to find Moira in the living room who had been reading a book. "Mom, we just came from Ollie's room and it looked trashed." Thea blurted out as soon as she could, causing Moira to look up in alarm at the two and raising to her feet.

"Have you called the police yet?" The question received a couple of 'no's' in return.

"No ma'am, we thought it was better to come to you first about this." Was Tommy's response to his surrogate mother. Thea nodded in agreement.

Quickly reaching for her cell phone, she began to make the call needed to get some help when a commotion in a nearby hallway grabbed her's and the other two's attention. They quickly learned it was Raisa having something of a big fuss over the state of Oliver's clothing. That and the mud he happened to be tracking around on the floor. "Mr. Oliver! Honestly young man you are making a mess! Take off those shoes before you do more!" She urged him imploringly.

Unfortunately he ignored her as he continued to head to his location. She tried again but a sudden 'shh' from Oliver stopped her. "Shh... The apples are easily startled. And nobody likes when the apples get startled. And I've been trackin' em out in the woods for days now." He told her quite seriously. Causing her to look at him in disbelief and some worry.

Thea rushed over to him but stopped as she really didn't want to get her clothes all muddy. She had just changed into these after all. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the sight of her big brother. "Jesus Ollie, what have you been doing!?" Her question had saved Moira from asking that very question herself. Though she would have worded it more strongly, as she really wasn't happy with how he looked. Or over the mud he was tracking in his wake.

Oliver looked at them slightly annoyed. "Shh!" Honestly, does nobody ever listen!?

His mother crossed her arms in annoyance, though she was getting worried. Tommy however, quickly went for a nearby apple that was in a bowl in the living room. "Here buddy! This one's not startled!" He figured it was best to play along, hoping it might help his best friend out and tossed it to him.

Were Oliver not in an obviously delusional state of mind, along with his arm still bothering him. He would have caught it. Instead however, he missed catching it and stumbled forward in doing so. Looking over at the fallen apple with a frown on his dirty and sweaty face before looking over at Tommy. "Damnit! Now the apple's busted and they've scattered! I'm gonna have to search all over again!" He waved his arms around crazily as he showed how unhappy he was.

Everyone looked at one another with very worried looks on their faces. "Oliver? Sweety, why don't we sit down hmm?" Moira hoped that might work on him.

Sadly however, it was no to avail as he looked at her like she had suggested something he didn't really understand. "Why? I'm perfectly fine! Fine as can be, fit as a fiddle even. Though why a fiddle even comes into play is beyond you know? Kept meaning to ask the apples that but so far it just hasn't happened." As he talked wildly, he had started to rub on his hurting arm. Hoping that would help it out some.

Thea was the first to speak out in concern over it, ignoring the anger she had been feeling with him lately. "Ollie? Why do you keep rubbing your arm?"

He looked over at her feeling more confused then before. "Huh? I am? I hadn't noticed. Its nothing, nothing to worry about. Its those apples you need to worry about. Ivo might be trying to enlist them again to his side."

Tommy could be seen off to the side mouthing the name Ivo to himself. Wondering just who the heck that could be. Raisa decided to step in next. "Mr. Oliver, I think if it were nothing you wouldn't be rubbing your arm." Using a calming voice so as not to potentially scare him off somehow.

He sighed in annoyance at being continually bothered when he had more important things to do. Like bringing a few apples to Shado so that they could enjoy them together. And maybe save one for Slade if he wasn't being a grump. "Okay, so yeah it is hurting. But it does this from time to time. Has since the island. No big deal!" And really, for him it wasn't.

But before anyone could say anything about that, he let out a groan as he had started to feel woozy. "Ohh boy, I don't feel so good." He groaned out as he fell to the floor. Causing everyone to cry out in alarm.


	9. Delusional Happenings Part 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea you see within this story. And big thanks to Naitch03 for getting back to me on an issue I had.**

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**Somewhere on Lian Yu...**

Oliver had wondered a bit aimlessly as he was a bit lost, confused, and pretty worried about why the hell he was here again at this place of all places. It was then that he noticed a figure up on a nearby hill and decided to go see who it was. Maybe they hopefully had the answers he needed. As he got closer he called out to the figure. His doing so caused the unknown person to turn back towards him. And what he saw nearly made his heart stop. For it was Shado herself he was seeing in front of him. But how? How could it be? She was dead and it was all on him! "Oliver! There you are! Where have you been!?" She called out to him as she hurried her pace to him, quite happily so at that as she had been missing his presence.

Oliver didn't respond however, as he was too shocked by the sight of her to reply. Noticing the look on his face, she grew worried and reached out to rub on his arm in a soothing manner. But he inched away, leaving her slightly hurt at what he had done. "Baobei?" She asked him, more worried then before.

Oliver swallowed at the term of affection she had given him and at the sight of how worried and somewhat afraid of what was going on with him. "But... I saw you die..." He managed to get out.

Shado was pretty alarmed by that and rushed to hug him tightly. Refusing to let go of him, she looked up at him. "Oh Yuchun, have you been drinking Slade's special juice again? I promise you, I am quite alive." She smiled at him, hoping it would help him out greatly.

Oliver felt confused over the mentions of Slade's special juice and a slight sense of worry since the two had been trying to kill one another the very last time they crossed paths. "Slade's special juice?" He decided to go with, hoping it would lessen his confusion. He had to admit though, he was starting to feel really happy seeing Shado's truly beautiful self alive and whole again.

"Yes, his special juice. The kind he makes from the crop we have been blessed in able to grow here." Shado was starting to get an idea that maybe Slade had given her Baobei a particularly potent version of his juice and resolved to speak to him soon about it. Really! The nerve of him to do so!

Her response really didn't help him at all in clearing his confusion. "We grow some kind of crop here now?" He asked her distractedly, as he had started to stare at her lips. Lips he had often dreamed of kissing again. But thought he would never do so again.

And to his delight, she did give him a kiss. One that though it was brief he could still feel the passion behind it that she clearly felt for him. "Yes Baobei, we were lucky when we learned we could grow apples here. Oh I swear, I will hurt Slade the next time he and I spar for causing you to feel so lost!" She had felt satisfied and less afraid now that she had known what the cause of her love's confliction was.

Oliver simply smiled at her and then the two began to walk up the cliff. He wondered to himself what would be past it once they got there. And his question was soon answered as he saw a large field of what looked to be apple trees growing. "Wow..." He called out rather impressed.

Shado smiled at him again before giving a kiss to his cheek. And the two stood there for several minutes more, admiring the sight. "Come you silly Yuchun of mine, its time we headed for our home." Shado said to him as she began to walk off, presumably in the direction of the fuselage.

"Right! Home and all that." He called after her. And then turned back to gaze at the field of apple trees below.

"Oliver?" Came Shado's questioning voice.

Turning to look back at her and to start walking with her. "I'm fine, no worries! I'm coming!"

Shado simply smiled again at him. "No, not that. Would you like an apple?" She then held out the apple to him. One that for some strange reason, looked oddly shaped to be in the form of his head.

"Shado!?" He called out as he sat up in a rush, not realizing he was in a hospital bed. Startling his mother who happened to be sitting in a nearby.

"Oliver! Oh sweety, you're awake!" Moira called out happily.

Oliver looked over at his mother with a confused expression on his face. "Mom? Where am I? Is Shado here too?" He asked in a rush.

His mother looked at him in alarm, wondering just who Shado was. "Sweety... You're in the hospital with a bad infection. And there is no Shado." Was her hopefully calming response. The fact her own son had been muttering in what she was sure was Chinese while he was unconcious was also making her wonder as well in addition to this. But knew this wasn't the right time for that.

"No Shado? But she was right there!" He cried out, wondering just what the hell was going on here and ignoring the infection part his mom had mentioned. The worry over Shado taking precedent over everything else

Moira quickly realized that her son had to have been dreaming about this Shado woman. And while she really wanted to know just who this girl was and if she was even worthy of being in her baby boy's life. It was just not the right time for that. "You, you were dreaming sweet heart. That's all it was, I promise."

The look he gave her greatly saddened her. As it was one filled with a mix of emotions and it even seemed like he might cry as well over what she had said to him. "Let me... Let me get the doctor okay sweety?" Hoping that the man would be able to help her son out in some way.

"Why? Not like he could give me back Shado." He muttered a loud depressingly. Causing Moira's heart to break at her son's words.

She quickly went in search of the doctor after that.  _Whoever this girl is, she must have meant quite a lot to him..._  She thought to herself as she went off in search. Hoping however that something serious hadn't happened to this girl.

Sighing morosely to himself, Oliver laid back down with an arm over his face. Willing for the tears not to start up because of that damn dream.  _I think I hate apples now.. And infection? What infection?_

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**Author's Notes: Well this is liable to punch people in the feels so to speak. I wound up doing a little research into certain Chinese terms. Those being Baobei which means baby or dear, and then Yuchun, which means silly in addition to several other related things like it. I hope though I did alright during the sudden switch over from the dream to the real world. Stay tuned folks! Cause Oliver's about to get some news he's not gonna like! R and R!**


	10. Delusional Happenings Part 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea for the story. And for those wondering about Felicity and when she may appear again. I currently have no plans to bring her in anytime soon. Don't get me wrong though, I do love the character.**

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It was roughly 10 minutes later when the doctor finally showed up with his mother trailing behind. The doctor being none other then Doctor Lamb, who had pretty much been the family doctor for years even. He smiled down at Oliver, who still had an arm over his face as he continued to dwell on things. "Well now son, its good see to you again." Dr. Lamb jovially decided to start with.

He only got silence in return which caused him to glance at Moira who was doing the same towards him. The message clear in her eyes to help her son was very evident. He decided to continue on, hoping it might get the young man to respond. Even the response wasn't entirely favorable once he had spoken. "Well, as I'm sure you may be aware by now of the fact that a small percentage of your body is covered in scars. Which to be honest, is quite alarming even for me. Much more so for your mother as it is apparent she wasn't even aware of that until now. Quite frankly, you should have come in much sooner. Especially with how your shoulder is." Moira looked down, not liking the fact that she hadn't insisted he come here sooner.

Oliver only sighed in response before saying anything. "I know... I just wanted to be at home first. Guess maybe I was even worried about what a visit from here would possibly bring me." Was his quiet but easily heard response.

While Moira's heart broke at what her son spoke of, Lamb merely nodded in understanding. "I imagine I'd be wishing to do the same in your place too." He responded sympathetically.

Deciding to bite the bullet, Oliver ran with the question that was also now on his mind. "So what's the verdict doc?" He really hoped it wasn't anything serious, as it was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

Dr. Lamb looked at Moira again before replying, as he had a feeling it was going to upset her some. Receiving a nod to go ahead, he began. "Well your right shoulder area I'm sorry to say will require surgery in order for it to fully heal. Whatever happened there left damage both on the outside and on the inside. What could have caused this?"

To his surprise Oliver actually responded with an answer. "An arrow." Came the fairly short answer.

"An arrow?" He asked, curiousity in his voice. As honestly, who really used those on people these days!?

"Yeah, but it was just a mis-understanding at the time is all." How anyone could consider that to be a mis-understanding of all things was beyond both the doctor and Moira.

But after trying to get an answer about that, he chose to go on after receiving no further information on it. "Well... As troubling as that is, as I mentioned you will be needing surgery to repair the damage. And I recommend getting it done as soon as possible. I'm afraid however that it will limit you for several months." He told the young man seriously.

 _Months!? I can't wait months to start doing what I need too!_  Was the thought that raged in Oliver's mind.

Oliver then chose to finally sit up and face the doctor. "That's... That's not exactly appealing." He said with a frown.

Dr. Lamb looked at him again with sympathy in his eyes. "I can understand that, and we can schedule the operation when you are ready. But I do recommend it must be done soon. As long term affects would likely not be too pleasant." His warning only received a nod in return.

"Is there anything else or can I go?" Oliver really hoped there wasn't and that he could leave. As being anywhere else was clearly much better than here.

Moira however had the feeling her son's hopes were going to be dashed. "Unfortunately Mr. Queen, there is more. After suffering an infection from a cut on your arm that made the situation with your shoulder much worse then what it could have been, I am going to recommend for you to take something for it. However, I still want you to continue taking it for your back. As at the same time it will also help with the tattoo on your back. As clearly whoever gave you that tattoo did not have your health in mind."

 _No kidding, does confirm why that part of my back liked to bother me a bit from time to time._  Oliver thought to himself wearily. Chalk one up to Slade to mess with his life even while in a watery grave.

"Yeah... That wasn't exactly my idea at the time." That little puzzling tidbit left the two in the room with him a bit worried but chose not to push it for the time being.

 _Oh son, who do I need to have a word with!?_  Moira sadly wondered. Perhaps she could employ the services of Malcolm's Enforcer for a short period of time to get a measure of justice for her son? Either way it would be something to look into.

The doctor could clearly be seen frowning at the younger man, really wishing he could push for more but knew that doing so would likely be bad. "I see... And however, yes, yes there is more. In addition to the surgery and the medication I'm prescribing you, I will also be prescribing something for depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Your mother mentioned on our way here about the sadness you were expressing. And to be honest, anyone who went through an unknown amount of Hell like you may have went through would likely wind up that way." Moira's hands went up in front of her now opened mouth, eyes wide in surprise and shock with tears threatening to fall. Though she had suspected it, having it confirmed now brought her fears of it to light.

Giving it a moment to sink in before he continued on. "I am also recommending that you attend therapy sessions. I understand that talking about your experiences is not something you likely wish to remember, but talking at least a little bit will prove beneficial for your mental and emotional health."

Oliver simply had a short laugh at the last bit. Though there was no joy in the laugh that could be heard. The dead look in his eyes at the news broke his mother's heart even further. "Well, good to know how screwed up I am huh?" He spoke, tone devoid of any emotion in it.

"It may seem that way now son, but in time you will get past this. And will be able to move on with your life." Dr. Lamb told him consolingly, and believing it would be possible.

If Oliver could have started to bring out the rage that was in him, he would have. But the news combined with the dream of Shado had pretty much left him broken. And wishing he could simply just leave and go hit something or someone. "Well doc, now that the bad news is over with. Can I get out of here now?" Moira found herself hoping that he could, feeling that maybe being around his sister could help him out some.

"Unfortunately Mr. Queen, I feel its best you stay overnight for observation. Simply to make sure that you aren't possibly a danger to yourself and that the treatment we are currently providing for the infection you are dealing with is helping as it should. Come tomorrow we will also have your prescriptions ready for you to take with you. One of which will also be a muscle relaxer to help deal with the pain your shoulder gives when it does occur until you do the surgery."

 _Damnit..._ Was the angry thought Oliver had to that idea.

Moira however, while she understood what the doctor was saying still felt slightly indignant that he thought Oliver would hurt himself. "Well, I'll leave you two alone for now to talk amongst yourselves. Visiting hours aren't over for another 2 hours." Dr. Lamb gained a nod from Moira and made his way out to begin the preparations needed.

Moira said nothing as she quickly went to her son and hugged him. Tears now coming down her face as Oliver did nothing but let himself be embraced.

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**Author's Notes: Gotta love bad news. I kinda figured that the dragon tattoo Slade forced on Oliver would serve to cause issues for him. Especially if the equipment happened to not be as sterile as it should be. Same for the arrow Yao Fei put in Oliver's shoulder area being an issue for him that wasn't really touched on. That and this all plays into a comment Oliver made to Laurel about barely being able to write, eat, or sleep during early season 1. Depression and PTSD are also some likely factors too. And will be around for some time to come. Hopefully despite the amount of dialogue present, I did do a good job with this chapter and that it made sense. Also since this would originally be the 3rd year he was gone, I thought about doing something involving Thea's 15th birthday. But figured by now in the timeline with this that that would have already passed. So perhaps during the 4th year he would have originally been gone I can save what I have in mind for her 16th. R and R!**


	11. For Want Of A Punching Bag

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea for the story you see here. Now... Let's get it on!**

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The over night stay for Oliver felt like an eternity for him. Especially with the fact he could barely go back to sleep. Though part of him suspected he just didn't want to have another dream like the one he'd had previously. For all he knew, he'd dream about some weird crap involving Slade and the last thing he needed was more mental scarring to deal with. And by the time 10 AM rolled around he was more than ready to get the heck out of dodge once he was finally given the okay to do so along with his prescriptions. Much to his relief when his mom picked him up in the limo, Thea or Tommy was no where to be found. As he really hadn't wanted to deal with much at the moment. On the way home he had spotted a sporting goods store but to his annoyance the shop was still closed. But quickly wrote down the number that was nearby to later call the store. When Moira asked why he had interest in the place, Oliver merely told her he intended to acquire a punching bag to get out his anger on.

His answer however wasn't particularly something Moira liked but she chose to keep it to herself. As she was not looking to gain any additional problems for the moment. And after arriving home Oliver quickly went up to his room and stayed there for several hours. Not even really bothering to take the prescribed pills as he didn't quite still believe he had depression or PTSD. Although it was likely he was just in denial. And hey, who could blame him? As time went on, he was honestly surprised Raisa had yet to come in to make damn sure he had taken his meds. Though he figured that maybe she was giving him the opportunity to do it with out her getting on his case about it. Which he also figured she would soon enough regardless if he had or hadn't been taking them.

It was around 4 when a knock at the door from Raisa brought him out of his staring up at the ceiling from his bed. Letting him know that a package had arrived for him.  _Great, gotta love same day order and delivery._  He thought as he rushed to the door to head out and check on it.

"Thank you Raisa." He muttered to her as he passed by and missing the small smile the woman sent at him.

"Anytime Mr. Oliver." She replied happily. She chanced a look into his room since he had left the door open. Curiousity burning inside her to know if he had taken what he is supposed too. But clamped it down as she did not want to intrude on the business of his health just yet.

Sighing her to herself, she closed the door and went on her way. "I hope you are being a smart boy and doing as you should Mr. Oliver." She muttered to herself.

Oliver quickly found himself in the front yard to see movers unloading the equipment for the punching bag he had managed to get ordered and delivered in the same day during the time he was in his room. He had yet to see his mom, but figured that maybe she was out doing something with Thea or the company. One of the movers soon spotted him and walked up to him. "Hey pal, where ya want this thing?"

Oliver looked over at him for a few seconds before he gave an answer. "In the back yard would be fine actually." He gained a nod of understanding in return.

And after a 20 minute wait to get the equipment for the punching bag set up. Oliver looked at it, ready to get some aggression he'd been feeling recently put into it. Finally signing the paperwork to confirm the delivery had been successfully made, he was soon left to his own devices. He was glad to have made sure to have included gauze and tape included so that he could wrap his hands up to keep from hurting them too much. Though he figured he was likely going to do that anyway with how he felt.

He would wind up going well past midnight with a light on nearby punching away his aggression with little breaks here and there. Raisa had already given up in trying to make small talk with him after having brought him some waters and food for when he was thirsty or hungry. Moira and Thea had caught sight of him doing his work out but had decided to leave it be for now. Thinking that he just needed to let out whatever it was he was feeling into the bag. That and after hearing about the lack of success Raisa had when it came to him made them think they'd also have the same results.

It was finally around 1:30 in the morning when he finally stopped. Breathing quite heavily and sweat pouring down his face and body from the exhausting work out. Though he no longer felt as much aggression or a desire to go and use his aggression on someone. He felt however a bit hollow, not even feeling phased when he saw the blood that was either dried or not on his wrapped hands. Pulling them off and dropping them to the ground, he used one of the water bottles that still had water to rinse off what he could of the blood on his hands. And decided to head on inside, thinking it was time he called General Shrive for a favor. Well after he took care of his hands first. After all, it would be kind of hard to use a phone if his hands were giving him issues.

**Minutes later...**

It was one of the better kept secrets that Oliver had managed to keep from Waller. That secret being that Shrive had given Oliver a way to contact him when the two had shaken hands after his debriefing. And he finally figured it was time he reached out to the man. The General thought it might be a good idea for him to have it and even had said as much in a message to him that came with the information. It hadn't even occurred to him either that the older man might actually be asleep at this time of night either. But luckily for him it was only on the second ring when the General answered. "General Shrive speaking." The tone was professional and devoid of any possible annoyance at being called so late.

Oliver figured that the man might be prone to being up this late for whatever reason, but figured it'd be a waste of time to even ask about it. "Hello General, I need a favor."

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**Author's Notes: And I think I'll leave it there! Been thinking about it recently, but is it just me or shouldn't Diggle have been just a tad bit more upset then what he was when Oliver came clean about his real reason for wanting to go after Ra's again? I mean come on, I would not have been happy about that at all. And I imagine if and when Felicity learns about it, she's likely not gonna want much to do with him either! Probably the same with the others too.**


	12. Thea's Got a Date

**Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the idea you see within this story. And warning, in this chapter I've decided to do a little time jump in order to get this story going a bit more.**

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In the past 2 months since Oliver had made that call to the General and it being a success. Life had been pretty busy for the young man. As he now had a small set up in the basement of his father's Foundry to stash equipment there and make more arrows for his mission. Of course the General had made one concession before agreeing to equip Oliver with what he needed. And since it was that he wanted the young man to come in for some training in various things, Oliver quickly agreed and told the man he would do so sometime soon. The General had figured that was as good as he was going to get and the deal had been made. And while Shrive couldn't officially support him on what he was planning to do, doing so un-officially was another story.

After getting fully equipped and donning a suit to wear while out in the field, he often spent as much time as he could in the Glades. Which left many a thug, drug dealer, and other types of scum either in a hospital bed or sometimes even dead. He had even managed to burn down a few more drug dens too.

Much to the annoyance of the Triad who had one of the bigger shares in the drug business of Starling City. But Oliver figured that so long as it annoyed the Triad, he'd just keep on doing it. He had also reasoned to himself that this was essentially training for when he did finally start going after the names in his father's notebook. His exploits were starting to get news worthy too. Oliver's outfit was primarily a dark green outfit that either special forces members or SWAT members would wear. The vest however, was simply kevlar protection. He had even had a black hood that looked similar to the green one made and sewn into the outfit as well. Also wearing a black face mask that covered the lower half of his face while having green grease paint covering his eyes. A black armguard could also be seen strapped to his dominant arm that could either be used to add a little pain to an opponent or simply to prevent the cloth on his arm from being torn up by an arrow. The grease paint was something he had to thank 'Bob' for on the idea. If only to amuse himself at any rate since the older man didn't think it would even work.

He had also yet to shave as well, feeling that there was just no need for it. Much to the dismay of his mother and Raisa. And while things weren't as tense anymore due to the argument the two siblings had and the words Oliver had with his mother over the whole thing. There was still a small amount there just waiting for something to set it off. Currently however he was feeling a little apprehensive as he worked to set up a little work station in the front yard so that he could be visibly seen crafting arrows. And he already had a good explanation in mind in case anyone asked him. Heck it helped he was actually doing it too and made him a bit grateful he had been able to acquire extra equipment as a just in case kind of thing. The reason for the apprehension you might ask? Why the fact that his little sister was getting ready for a date with some boy who was going to be there in an hour to pick her up. As far as he was concerned, this boy had no business sniffing around his sister. And was going to ensure a few ground rules were made when this boy got there.

Pulling out his phone, one he still had issues in trying to figure out since technology had continued to improve like it does during the time he was gone. He made a call to Tommy to get him involved in the whole thing. Believing his best friend would agree on the whole matter with him. After a few rings Tommy finally picked up. " _Buddy! Good to hear from ya! Have you finally decided to enjoy the nightlife with me?_

Oliver had to sigh at the persistence of his best friend, although he was sure he would have been chuckling if that hollow sensation he still felt wasn't present. As he still had yet to take the medications given to him. Still under the belief he was just fine. "Sorry, but no. I'm afraid I'm calling you for a very serious reason." And for him it was a serious reason.

Tommy, hearing the seriousness in his best bud's voice decided to get serious himself. " _Everything alright man?_ "

"I wish they were, but Thea's got a date with some boy." The statement and how seriously it was said nearly made Tommy drop his phone in shock.

" _Whoa, yeah alright that is serious. I'll be there as soon as I can. This guy needs a talking too._ " If anything, the Merlyn scion figured it would be funny as hell to watch.

Oliver grunted in approval, glad he had agreed to help him out with this troubling business. "You my friend, are good people. See ya soon." And then hung up with out saying anymore. Tommy didn't get too offended however as he figured he'd be just as troubled if he had a little sister too. Even though Thea did feel like one to him.

And true to his word, Tommy was there nearly twenty minutes later. The sight before him a bit baffling as he watched Oliver sharpen an arrow as he made his way to him. "Hey buddy! What's all this?"

The Queen scion paused in his sharpening to look up at Tommy. "This, this is something I plan to use in our talk with Thea's date." The distaste easily heard in his voice at the idea of the date present as can be.

Tommy was inwardly worried and hoped that Ollie wouldn't do something stupid with the arrow. "Riiiight... Well what do we know?" He decided to go with that, thinking it would be safer.

"So far... Nothing. Not even a name. Speedy's keeping it all wrapped up tight." Oliver told him, clearly annoyed by that. Not like he was going to go track down the boy who thought he could take his baby sister out on a date or anything. Thea herself already had an inkling to how much her brother wasn't liking this and decided she would have a little fun with it.

"Crap." Was all Tommy could say. And Oliver had to agree on that.

It was then that a car arrived, one that was being driven by the kid who planned to take Thea on a date. Oliver looked at the car for a moment before speaking. "Get ready, it seems he's decided to come a little early." Ohh Tommy was definitely going to enjoy this.

Oliver went back to sharpening an arrow as the boy headed in their direction. Which considering they were right near the front doors, there wasn't really anyway for him to avoid them. A smart choice on Oliver's part too if he might say so. "Hello!" The boy called out, not realizing just how much trouble he was in.

Tommy decided to be nice and shake the boy's hand once he got to them. Figuring Ollie would have rather done something else considering how he was taking it all so seriously. "Soooo... You're Thea's date huh? What's your name?" He figured those two questions would be great ways to get it started off.

"Yes sir, I am her date. And my name is Shane sir." The boy told him nervously. As seriously, Thea didn't warn him about this!

"Mighty fine name there Shane. Mighty fine." Tommy told him seriously while trying not to laugh.

Shane looked at him, hoping that maybe he just gained some sort of approval here. "T-thanks sir. I-if you don't m-mind my asking. Who are you?" He normally wasn't a stuttering type but these two were certainly managing to make him feel that way!

Taking the initiave again, Tommy answered first. "Well as for me, I'm Tommy Merlyn. Long time friend of the family. Heck I practically am family these days!" Giving the kid a subtle way to practically say he was like another brother to Thea.

He then pointed at Oliver. And this is Ollie, Thea's big brother who recently came back from the dead. Say 'hi' Ollie!"

"Hi." Oliver simply said a bit loudly to be heard as he kept on sharpening the arrow.

"Yeah, he's not much for talking these days. But we're getting him there." Tommy joked, causing Oliver to give off a harrumph at that.

"Oh. Um... That's good, I guess?" Shane responded, as honestly he wasn't sure what to say to that.

 _Good work so far Tommy._  Thought Oliver in approval. He then stopped what he was doing to speak up next.

"So kid, what's your intentions with our little sister?" The look he was giving the kid told him his answer had better be a good one.

Shane gulped at the look he was getting and knew that he wasn't quite going to be able to try anything with Thea. Even if it might actually be her idea. He wanted to live thank you very much! "Well sir, I intend for us to just have a good clean wholesome fun." He hoped the answer would satisfy the hairy man.

Oliver nodded in approval at that, but he also considered that this Shane kid might just be telling him what he wants to hear. As after all, it would have been something he would have done back in the day. He stood up to his full height and looked down at the kid while holding the arrow he'd been spending time on. "That's good, that's good. Good clean wholesome fun is alright with me. As I would hate to think you would be lying to me about that." To emphasize his point, he rubbed the arrow head against his palm. Just barely managing to hide a wince as he realized he might have sharpened it just a little too sharply.

 _Aww damnit, I hadn't meant for that to happen. Oh well I suppose, a little blood to help scare him further into not trying crap with my baby sister is good as far as I'm concerned._ He thought to himself, close to feeling a bit of happiness over it due to still feeling a lack of emotion in himself.

Tommy and Shane noticed the blood that had started to drip down from Oliver's hand. The sight of it made the kid gulp again, seriously worried that Thea's brother had a screw loose or something. And hoped tonight would be worth it despite dealing with this crazy ass fool. That is if he could work up the nerve anyway. Tommy on the other hand, while still enjoying the whole thing felt a little worried for his friend due to how he had barely reacted to cutting himself. Hoping it might have been an intentional kind of thing. But figured he'd wait til they were alone to ask about it.

"No sir, just good clean wholesome fun. Yep, that's it." Shane finally said.

The two older men looked at one another and Oliver then gave a nod to Tommy. Who took that as his cue to speak up next as Oliver sat back down while still giving that rather menacing look to the kid. "Well! Sounds good to me! Just go on ahead inside, I'm sure once Thea knows you're here she'll be coming your way before too long." Tommy told him with false cheer and a clap of his hands.

The kid nodded at him and took off towards the front doors like something from Hell was after him. And considering the impressions he had gotten from those two, that might be pretty accurate!

There was silence for several moments before the brothers in all but blood would speak again. Mostly in part thanks to Tommy deciding to speak first. "Well man, that was fun!" Oliver looked up at him with something close to a smirk on his face to show his agreement.

"By the way man, that cut you did to your hand. Was that intentional? Cause seriously I think that helped scare a few years off that poor kid." Tommy asked, hopeful once more that maybe it was intentional to prove a point.

"Actually..." Oliver started. "No, I had done that completely by accident." He told Tommy rather wryly.

At that, Tommy couldn't help but laugh at the sheer luck of it all. Though he was happy the cut obviously hadn't seemed to be worse and couldn't wait to tell someone about this whole thing. Oliver even had a little chuckle at that too as he quickly wrapped his hand up to help stop the bleeding.

"Seriously though, thanks for even allowing me to take part in this. It means a lot to me." The Merlyn scion told Oliver with as much sincerity as he could put into his voice. Which was a lot actually.

"Anytime Tommy, anytime. I know you would do the same for me." Oliver told him and Tommy nodded to affirm that.

And before Tommy could ask him what he planned to do with his hand, Thea and Shane came out of the door. Of course one of them looked way more excited than the other. Thea told the two older boys not to wait up for her. Which prompted Oliver to respond by telling Shane to have his baby sister home by at least 11. Causing Thea to groan in annoyance and pulled on her date to get away faster.

After seeing the two leave, the two spent a short period of time in silence. Enjoying what they'd done to Thea's date. Surprisingly, it was Oliver who spoke up next. "So, want to show me what wonders of the world I missed on television?" He thought it might be a good way for the two to hang out awhile since they hadn't really been able to do so for whatever reason lately.

Tommy was instantly open to the idea. "You bet buddy!" And the two were off to inside of the mansion to spend quality bro time together.

By the time 10:30 PM had arrived, Tommy had already left for the night as he had something he needed to be up early for the next day. Oliver figured it might have something to do with Laurel but chose not to voice that thought. Not wishing to deal just yet with that particular can of worms. It was then as he was watching yet another infomercial due to not having much better to do that he heard his sister's voice. A voice that sounded annoyed.

"OLLIEEEEEEE!" Thea screamed out, clearly unhappy with how the date turned out it seemed. Something that actually made Oliver smile for the first time in awhile. And decided to wait right where he is for his baby sister to find him.

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**Author's Notes: Gotta love when big brother comes out to play! If this gets folks laughing, I'll be plenty pleased with myself. Up next, Oliver and Laurel finally cross paths again and the results won't be pretty!**


	13. Close Encounters of the Lance Kind

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. And oops, just learned that Shrive is supposed to be Shrieve. I'll be sure to use the correct spelling from now on. Sorry on that folks. And watching CSI: Miami may have inspired me to use something from that for this story later on. Anyways.. Let's get it on!**

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Ever since Oliver had woken up after what little sleep he had, he'd been feeling a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. And considering all the crap he'd been through in the last near 3 years, to be feeling that of all things was a bit alarming for him. He hoped like crazy that Waller wasn't about to show up back in his life to include him in some job she needed him for. He was done with that thank you very much! Even a late breakfast hadn't really quelled it, so he decided to head out back and make use of the punching bag. Little did he know though that the cause of that dread was headed his way.

Normally she would be on her way to work by now but instead, she was actually on her way to the Queen mansion to finally have a little chat with that jerk faced cheating ex of hers. She had even called in sick at CNRI just so that she could do this. And Laurel honestly felt it was high time the two had it out. After all if he can laze about on his ass for the past few months since getting back and intimidate would be suitors of Thea with Tommy. Then he can damn well talk to her! Hell, maybe even get on his knees and beg for forgiveness. Not that she would give it to him anytime soon of course. Upon arriving at the mansion, she made quick strides to the front doors and rang the door bell since she figured Raisa or anyone else wouldn't be near the doors to hear any knocking.

For Raisa, seeing Laurel Lance was the last thing she was expecting today. "Oh! Ms. Lance! To be honest it is a surprise to see you here. Are you sure this is a good idea?" She really hoped the young lady might re-think what she was here for. As she didn't quite feel that Mr. Oliver was quite ready to face off with the young lady just yet.

Laurel smiled at the older woman whom she had always respected. Especially in how she'd been able to deal with Ollie's crap for all the years she'd been with the family. "Oh I'm pretty sure this is a good idea Raisa. He hasn't even so much as tried to come and talk to me. And I'm tired of it." Had she known what the reasons for why he had yet to do so, she likely really would have waited til another time.

Raisa sighed in resignation at the young woman's words. "There are reasons for why he has yet to approach you. Of course I can assume you would not have been willing to hear them had he come to you first before today." Laurel had to admit to herself that the woman may likely be right in that regard. Especially if he had come to her several days after he had come home for example.

Raisa said nothing else but indicated for Laurel to follow her. Seeing as how the young woman was set on what she was intending to do and figured anything else she could say would do no good. Laurel instantly felt curious that they didn't seem to be heading to his room, where she thought he likely might be.  _Well at least he won't be able to try and charm me in to his bed then._ Course she would give him one of the biggest slaps he'd ever get for his attempts.

As Laurel stepped into the back yard, sounds of something being hit followed by grunts could be heard. Which briefly made her wondered if Ollie's time away put him onto some weird crap. The sight of the punching bag dispelled her of any further disturbing imagery that was going on in her mind. She noticed his hair seemed longer, which was unusual for him. But chalked it up to him thinking it was cool now to have longer hair or something inane like that. She never would have figured him to be the type to hit a punching bag, the fact he was in a white sleaveless shirt and black sweat pants was also a bit of an unusual sight for her too. "Ahem, Mr. Oliver you have a guest." Called out Raisa.

Oliver froze in mid punch, his earlier fear of Waller coming to pay him a visit now surging back in his mind. Turning slowly to face Raisa and the mystery visitor, his eyes widened in what some might think of as surprised relief that it wasn't the Beast Incarnate come to try and force him into doing something for her. Although realizing it was Laurel didn't help the dread in his stomach any however. "L-Laurel! What, what are you doing here?"

Laurel was now getting a better view of her ex and it was even surprising for her. As normally Ollie was the type who looked his best. She was starting to think that maybe he wasn't trying something to be cool. But she wasn't about to let that stop her.

"I thought it was time we talked." She told him simply and to the point.

This made Oliver do his own sigh of resignation, no where near ready for this.  _Damn it, why now?_  He thought to himself, kind of wishing it had been Waller now. He also noticed Raisa getting the heck out of dodge too.

His not saying anything made her feel a bit angry and decided she would just go first then. "Really Ollie? You don't have anything to say? Not even an apology for getting my sister killed cause of your damn in-ability to keep it in your pants and stay faithful to me?"

He noticably winced at her words, which only spurred her to go on. "My family is pretty much in pieces now cause of the decsion you and her made to go on that damned boat."

Oliver lowered his head down in shame. He honestly had no idea how deeply things had affected the Lance family. "You were never even supposed to know about it. Had I even known what would happen, I never would have brought her along for the ride. I'm sorry Laurel..." He told her quietly, but still to where she could hear him.

His response made her even more incensed, not even really giving a crap that he had made an apology to her. It would take more than one apology for him to ever be able to make it up to her. Before she could even really stop herself, her hand found the side of his face rather loudly. He only stumbled but regained his footing and looked at her, the look in his eyes clearly telling her to do it again as he felt he deserved it. "Not supposed to even know!? She was my sister Ollie! You likely could have done this with any other whore out there, but instead you took my own sister!" Her voice by then was pretty high and the anger and hurt could be heard in it. She slapped him again, even harder this time it felt like.

He just looked at her again, not bothering to do anything. He really didn't think there was anything he could say to her. "Well? Say something already!" Laurel demanded angrily.

"What do you want me to say Laurel? That I'm sorry it was Sara? That I'm sorry for being a coward instead of being a man? I'm sorry every damn day that I wake up. I am so damn sorry for a lot of things that some days I am so weighed down by the guilt I feel that I can't even move. I was a jerk back then and probably still am one now, hell you even knew that too and yet you still stuck with me despite the facts you were damn well aware of!" He finally said to her, albeit with little to no emotion in his voice.

Laurel's face had tears coming down it now, the anger more felt with in her after he said his piece. She then flew at him with out much thought and began to beat on his chest, yelling all sorts of things at him. The fact he was still not doing a damn thing only making her want to keep hitting him. She then screamed at him before decking him right in the jaw and hauled ass back to her car. Ignoring Moira and Raisa's calls of concern. Meanwhile, Oliver just laid where he was as he held his rather sore jaw.  _I deserved that, and I still deserve so much more._ He thought warily, getting an idea as to what he should do next.

His mom could be heard calling out his name as she rushed to him. Obviously having been told by Raisa that Laurel had been here to see him. "Oliver! Sweety what happened!?" She frantically asked as she helped him get up by getting under one of his arms. Causing him to groan as well since Laurel had hit his damaged shoulder area rather hard a few times.

"Just... A discussion is all." Was all he wanted to say and removed himself from his mom and took off for the inside of the house, Moira also following along. Really wanting to know more about this conversation that took place. Thea could be heard asking what had happened to him as the two passed.

Oliver quickly disappeared into his room and then came out moments later with shoes and a black button up shirt on him. Keys in hand and only saying he had something he needed to do when asked what he was up too. Leaving 3 women very worried for him, even if one of them was still annoyed at him for the whole Shane thing.

**Nearly an hour later...**

Detective Lance had decided to immerse himself in paperwork that was in much need of catching up on. Plus using it as a means to keep himself occupied and away from distracting thoughts of climbing into another bottle or three. But a commotion caused him to look up to see Oliver Queen of all people headed his way.  _Oh this little piece of garbage is not what I want to deal with right now._ He thought sourly.

"Detective Lance!" Oliver's call to him made him sigh in annoyance.

"What could you possibly want Queen? By the way, ya got some nerve showing up here ya know." He grumbled at the kid, his annoyance plainly heard and seen.

Oliver took a moment to collect himself before speaking. "Sir... I'm here to place myself under your arrest." This took the older man completely by surprise.

"Arrest? Are you kiddin' me here!?" He yelled out, now on his feet and going around his desk to get right in the punk's face.

"Yes sir, I am here to be arrested." Was the calm reply.

Quentin scoffed at this, wondering what the punk could have possibly done to make him come to him to and be arrested. "Alright, I'll bite. What the hell did ya do that was so bad? Other then getting my little girl on that damned boat of yours." He noticed they were getting an audience, but he just couldn't really give a damn at the moment. The more people who saw this little bit of self humilation was a good thing in his book.

Oliver just looked at him with emptiness in his eyes, but resolve in his voice. "That's just it Detective Lance, I'm here to place myself under arrest by you for the death of Sara Lance."

Now this really shocked the hell out of the detective, and to be honest made him a bit angry too. Scoffing at the younger man's audacity, at least in his head anyway. "What the hell are you playing at here with me Queen? This is low even for you!" He tried to keep his voice from rising but it was hard for him to do it.

"No games, no lows, just me here asking to be arrested for something that was clearly MY fault." He even held out his hands for Lance to put the cuffs on him.

Oh how Lance really wanted to knock him on his ass. But refused to get in trouble over this punk. "Quentin..." Hilton called out warningly as a sort of just in case kind of thing.

He knew what his partner was implying, but for Christ's sakes did this kid have some stones on him! "Look here... Yes, my daughter is dead cause of YOU. But I, as MUCH as I WANT too, am not allowed to arrest you for what happened. And trust me Queen that burns me up like hell." He turned away, not wanting to see the kid's face anymore.

Oliver however was yet to be deterred. "But sir, its what I deserve! I DESERVE TO BE ARRESTED! LOCKED AWAY FOR WHAT I'VE DONE! I'LL EVEN LET YOU SHOOT ME IN THE HEAD IF ITS WHAT YOU WANT!" The Queen scion couldn't help but yell all that out. Wanting nothing more then for the man to arrest or even shoot him.

Quentin turned to lunge at him but Hilton and several other police officers stopped him in time. Making sure to hold on tightly to him. "GET OUT OF HERE PUNK! BEFORE I DO DECIDE TO PUT A BULLET IN YOUR DAMN HEAD! GET OUT!" The rage was no longer contained and out for all to see. Hilton could even be heard trying to calm the man down.

This made Oliver decide to cut his losses and sag his shoulders in defeat. And walked away from Lance. The rest of the day and most of the night passed by the Queen scion in a blur as he had decided to simply get as drunk as he possibly could. Wishing to just forget things for awhile. And as he was about to go with some girl who's name he'd likely never even remember. Tommy showed up, and if Oliver had not been so drunk. He would have been wondering how his best friend even knew how to find him. "Buddy! I've been lookin' all over for you! Do you have any idea how worried your mom, Thea, and Raisa are!?"

Oliver just swayed a bit to the side causing the girl he had an arm around to stumble a little. "Aww 'ommy, 'm ooookay! Yew should join meeee man..." The state he was in had pretty much left Tommy pretty concerned.

Looking over at the girl Oliver had an arm around, he told her to get gone in a serious tone of voice. The girl groaned in annoyance but did as asked. "Should you even be drinking anyway with the meds you're on?" Tommy asked concernedly.

Oliver just laughed at that. "Aww yer no fun! Be fun 'ommy! And no pills for meee! Not even takining thems." The Merlyn scion's eyes widened at that as he knew that not only would Moira be unhappy. But so would Raisa not be too happy either!

Tommy just sighed in the end before speaking again. "Come on man, let's get you home."

"Aww whatever! Dey no fun either!" But Oliver went with him anyway. Making Tommy breathe a sigh of relief that it wasn't more of a fight to get him to do it. And soon they were on there way with Oliver passed out in the passenger seat with out a car in the world at that moment.

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**Author's Notes: Well here we are with this chapter. Hopefully the interactions here are done well enough to be seen as a believable thing that could have happened on the show itself. As for the next chapter, I'm thinking of it as being Thea centric. I figured it would make for a nice little perspective to see how she's decided to react to everything since Oliver came home. And also, later down the line I'm thinking of including Superman in this. But how I plan to do it is either a Superman who was active from the 40's to say maybe the 70's and then retired or some such. And then finally returns for whatever reason. Or using the Smallville based version, but keeping Alicia Baker alive cause to Hell with her being killed and them feeding us with another 5 seasons of Clark and Lana afterwards. And as always, much thanks for all the support! R and R!**


	14. Thea Queen's Day Off Part 1

**Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. Okay, so I know this isn't the most original title for this chapter. But hey, it works for what I'm doing in this one! And is Ray Palmer a freakin' minister now too!?**

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The buzzing of the alarm was the indicator of a new day for one Thea 'Speedy' Queen. A new day and another day of school at that.  _Ugh... I SO don't want to be up right now._  The young girl sleepily thought.

Sluggishly getting out of bed and shuffling to the bathroom that was connected to her room. She splashed some water on her face to help wake her up a bit before getting in the shower. As she freshened up under the wonderful feeling of her shower head she wondered how her jerk face of a brother was doing after being brought home last night and the drunkest he'd been in years.  _The ruiner of dates is probably still sleeping it off, poor big brother just can't hold his liquor anymore I guess._  She snarkily thought to herself, hoping she might be able to have fun with that today as a small measure of payback for what happened with Shane.

As she was drying herself off, her stomach chose then to rumble.  _You're just gonna have to wait on that food buddy, I got a brother to bug._  A smile could be seen at that thought.

Quickly making her way to Oliver's room after getting dressed in her school's uniform. She let herself in quietly so as not to ruin her little surprise visit. The light from the windows helped her see that the big lug seemed to be curled into a ball under his cover. Although to her delight, a bare foot was not under the cover. Testing the waters before trying anything she called out to him. "Psst... Ollie? You awake?" Not receiving an answer to her inquiries, she reached down to start tickling his foot.

The sensation seconds later caused him to start squirming a little. So she went a little faster on his foot, hoping it would actually wake him up enough to get a reaction from him. "Akio... Would you stop already? I don't know why Slade's juggling the apples again." She heard him mutter in his sleep.

She had to stiffle the giggle that wanted to come out as she wondered just who the heck those two were. And as to why apples of all things were involved.  _Maybe he's craving them?_ She'd have to experiment with that pretty soon. If anything just to see what he would do.

 _Revenge dear brother will be sweet! And I will make sure you never find out about another of my dates again!_ And that was a vow she intended to keep! Of course little did she know however that that would be slightly harder then what she imagined it would be later on.

She decided for now that she could torment him later and hurried out of his room with a smile on her face. Not even noticing the un-opened bags of meds he was supposed to be taking. After quickly making her down to the first floor, she arrived in the dining room just in time to see Raisa set out her favorite cereal and the milk she'd need for it.  _I love this woman!_ She happily thought.

"Hey thanks Raisa!" The young Queen girl called out to the older woman.

Raisa simply smiled at the young girl. "Quite welcome Ms. Thea, will your brother be joining us?" She doubted it, but it never hurt to ask.

Thea shook her head in the negative before speaking. "Nah, that jerk is still out. Dealing with the Lances yesterday really screwed him up a little." After she had learned of what happened, she honestly wanted to slap Laurel. The whole thing left her wondering what Tommy even saw in the girl when he could do so much better. Heck maybe she'd go throw toilet paper at Detective Lance's apartment complex?

As after all, Ollie was her big brother and only she could get to be mean to him. Sisterly privilege after all. Raisa just sighed at the young girl's words and didn't say more as she went about her morning business. As Thea happily munched on her cereal, Walter and Moira soon appeared in the dining room. Walter's being there this early had been kind of a rare sight in the past few months since Ollie had come back for obvious reasons. But Thea had no intention of letting that cat out of the bag, as it was up to those two to tell Ollie what they were doing. Her phone's buzzing broke her from her thoughts.

" _Hey girl, want a ride to school? - B"_ Thea quickly sent a text back saying that she was all for it.

" _Awesome! Shane's with us too by the way -B"_ Now that was some real good news to hear as far as Thea was concerned!

" _Blaine! You are awesome!"_  She told her friend quite happily.

" _I am aren't I? -B"_ Was the cheeky response, but before Thea could text back. Walter spoke up.

"Ah! Good morning young lady. Will you be needing a ride this morning to school? The man enquired, and to be honest it was something he enjoyed doing. As the conversations he had with the girl were often amusing and enlightening.

Moira just smiled at the two before taking a drink from her coffee. "Um... Thanks Walter but I already have a ride. Blaine's picking me up." She informed him, obviously happy over it. Though why that was, seemed a bit of a mystery for the man.

Giving a nod to the younger girl to show his understanding. "Excellent, I trust Ms. Blaine and yourself will manage to stay out of trouble this day?" The man had good reason to ask considering the trouble the two girls found themselves in from time to time.

Thea only smiled at him. "Oh yeah! Of course we will!" So obviously not with Shane involved!

Walter wasn't quite sure whether he should believe that or not. But didn't say anything as he didn't quite feel it was his place to do so. Moira also said nothing as she had no wish to ruin the lovely morning they were having so far.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence between them, it was interrupted by the buzzing of Thea's phone. Taking a moment to look at it, she smiled and then looked up at her mom and the others. "Alright, well my ride's here. Have fun doing boring adult stuff!" And then rushed away, leaving Walter chuckling to himself at the girl and Moira smiling fondly at her daughter.

As soon as Thea made her way out the doors of her home, she was greeted by a series of greetings from the car of friends. A car of friends that included the boy known as Shane that she was hoping to be real friendly with pretty soon no matter what Ollie or Tommy tried to do. "Blaine! You are a life saver!" She called out as she hopped into the convertible.

The black haired girl turned to look at her with a smirk on her face. "Ever so happy to be of service!" Her quippy response caused a good laugh at that.

Shane hesitantly put an arm around Thea, which made her want to roll her eyes but she leaned into him anyway. "You big goof, my brother is not going to pop up out of nowhere. He's out like a light after last night. No idea about Tommy, but he's not gonna pop up either. I promise." She really hoped that would sway the boy as she really had no intention of wanting to continue in doing so. As she had much better ideas of what she could be doing with him.

A short redhaired girl in the latest seasonal fashions spoke up next. "Hey! Why don't we skip school and have some fun?" She suggested excitedly, causing everyone in the car to look at one another.

Thea spoke up first. "I'm sold on that idea, I could use a little fun and relaxation after the past few months."

"Hey if it makes my girl happy, I'm down." The smile Shane got in return was all he needed to see he did good there.

Blaine looked at the two of them for a second with a small smile on her face. "Fun it is then! Where too?"

"Why not the mall?" The redhaired girl suggested.

"Claire my friend, you are a genius!" Thea called out excitedly to the redhaired girl. And if they somehow wound up in trouble, it wasn't going to be a big deal for the young Queen to get herself or her friends out of trouble. At least in her mind anyway. It might even get her brother stop being a hypocrite and give his own little seal of approval.

And with a loud squealing sound of the back tires, they were off. Not quite realizing the day they were going to be in for. Meanwhile, up in Oliver's room. The young man could be heard muttering about the dangers of apples in his sleep.

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**Author's Notes: Alrighty my good peoples, I'm gonna end it right there for now. I figured this could be a good starting point for the Thea centric fun. Apologies if this feels like a short chapter.**


	15. Thea Queen's Day Off Part 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. Now, let's get this rollin' on!**

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After several hours of hanging out in the mall and enjoying theirselves. Even at one point making use of the Queen name to get into a designer store that had yet to open for the day when they first got there. The teens were beginning to get a little bored of the place and had been discussing where to go to next while enjoying some freshly cooked pizza. Little did Thea know however is that Tommy had a few friends amongst those who worked in the Mall. And those friends had been asked by the Merlyn scion to keep an eye on the girl in case she ever decided to skip school and come there. Had she known this, she would not have been as enthusiastic about coming to the mall. Or well, at least this one anyway. "We could always go to my house, nobody is there anyway." Suggested Blaine after a final bite of an enjoyable slice of pineapple pizza.

The other three looked at one another and each gave a nod of approval as they clearly had nothing better to suggest. Although Thea had something in mind, but it wouldn't be night time for hours yet. "I'm good with that, but at some point I'd like to go to a sporting goods store." Was Thea's answer.

Shane looked at her, curious as to why she'd want to do that. "Oh? Care to share with the class?"

Thea looked at him and her two friends before answering with a little smirk in place. "Let's just say a certain detective I'm familiar with is in need of a visit."

None of the other three didn't really have a clue how to respond to that, but Shane gave the girl a thumb's up. "Well, sounds like a plan! Now, on to my house!" Called out Blaine excitedly, earning cheers from the others.

**A Little While Later at Blaine's...**

While Blaine's house wasn't as huge as Thea's and let's be honest, Thea's was the biggest out of all of theirs. It was roomy enough to allow Miss Queen and her new guy to find a little private time and work on really getting to know one another. Only words weren't being used and was giving new meaning to the phrase 'actions speak louder than words.' Course Thea had no intention of letting Shane hit third base just yet. As come on now, she wasn't going to let it be THAT easy for the boy. She is a Queen after all, and they never make things easy for anyone.  _Then again... It might just be me that does that sort of thing. And oooh... I need to stop Mr. Hands there._ She let out a giggle at what the boy's hands were doing.

She pulled away from the boy to try and get his attention. "Oooh Shane, that's a no no for now." She told him warningly, not afraid to put a hurting on him if she had too.

The boy looked at her with a hint of a smirk on his face and lust clearly seen in his eyes. "Aww, come on. I could tell you were starting to enjoy it." He was practically daring her to deny what he was saying.

Something that despite her age, the young Queen was well aware of. She gave him a smirk of her own before responding. "I didn't deny it now did I?" She returned the challenge with a bit of snarkiness present.

"Oh, of course not." Was the response she got before he went in to make moves on her again. But she rebuffed him.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" She teasingly told him, but a hint of seriousness could be heard in her voice. Making the young man grumble a bit.

"What's the big deal gorgeous? I'm interested, you're interested. So let's make for some interesting times."

"And I'm not denying that, but if you think I'm gonna give it up THAT easily on our first day together. You have another thing comin' buddy." And while she wanted to try out the sort of fun her brother was prone to enjoying once upon a time. She wanted to at least take her time a little with Shane before going that far.

The boy huffed a bit at that. "Aww, come on. I'd totally make it worth your while." He suggested suggestively with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

"And I'm sure you would, but I want to wait. And if you really even like me as much as you claim. You'll understand that." Thea warningly told him, clearly suggesting if he didn't go with what she was saying. Then he could just forget about trying anything and go find somebody else.

Shane put his hands up in a defensive manner, finally getting that his girl was being serious. "Whoa! Chill girl! I get it. I can wait, besides you're worth it." Course if Thea knew what he was thinking, she would have slapped the crap out of him. But Shane was thankful mind reading wasn't a real thing. Boy, wouldn't he be surprised later on in life?

The smile and the kiss he got in return let him know he did good. "Good boy. See, wasn't that hard now was it?" Thea told him with plenty of cheer in her voice, leaving him to wonder about the mysteries of a woman's quick mood change.

Before he could say anything though, Blaine came knocking on the door rather insistently. "Guys! Come on, we gotta get out of here before my mom gets here!" Leaving the two to stare wide eyed at one another before rushing out the door.

"What's going on Blaine?!" Thea quickly asked her friend as she and Shane got out of the room.

As they rushed to get downstairs to where Claire was, the girl informed them that she'd received a text from her mother with a warning that she'd better not find her there when she is supposed to be in school.

"Well crap." The words from Shane nicely managed to summarize the whole situation rather nicely. And with that, the four were gone rather quickly from the house.

**Several hours later...**

After having left Blaine's house earlier on, the four had managed to find themselves various things to occupy their time. Such as hanging out at a local park in an effort to avoid Detective Lance who had actually seen them wondering about elsewhere before coming there. Shane, with slight help from Thea, had acquired some feel good times from a nearby dealer and the two lovebirds were currently on their way to Highville. Blaine and Claire had refused to join in on their bit of fun. Of course in Blaine's case it made sense as she was the one driving. "Soooo... I was thinking that um... That we could get some toilet paper, and maybe some paint guns and stuff. So that we could like... Do stuff to 'tective Lance's place." While Thea had still been experimenting with drugs, weed was something that still had a strong effect on her.

"Oh yeah, totally man." Shane himself was rather stoned and pretty much hanging on to every word his girl was saying. Making the other two girls roll their eyes while giggling at the sight before them.

Before anymore could be said though, Detective Lance appeared from a distance yelling at them. Causing all four, well at least two of them to be shocked and wondering just how the heck he had managed to find them. "DON'T EVEN THINK OF LEAVING!" He roared out, wondering just how the Hell he had even gotten roped into spoiled ass rich kids.

 _Oh yeah, her highness Moira Queen rode my ass about her baby boy._ He thought sourly.

And if he really thought they would listen to him, he was sadly mistaken as the four got into the car and took off. Of course some had it more easier than others in making it to the car. The exertion from the running Lance had done had caused him to double over, the annoyance he felt was high to at not having been listened too. "Damn kids, I'm a cop not a brat wrangler." He groused and stayed like that for several more minutes to catch his breath. Knowing if Laurel knew about this, she'd be all on his case again about being healthier.

**Queen Mansion, near midnight...**

All in all, Thea would have to say it was a damn good day and night for her. Sure Lance had shown up at the last second to interrupt what would surely have been a nice new experience with paint ball guns. But despite that, the toilet papering was fun. Something she was sure of that her brother would be all kinds of approving of. The thought gave her a smile, that and getting some food into her was also smile worthy too. But her cloud of happiness quickly evaporated when a clearing of the throat happened and she turned to see big brother with a very unhappy expression on his face.  _Oh great, looks like big brother is gonna be all hypocritical again._ She thought, annoyed as she managed to quickly figure out why he seemed unhappy. Why couldn't he just be happy she was doing like he likely would!?

"Have fun Speedy?" Oh, so that's how he's going to start it off huh?

"Oh yeah big brother, tons of fun! It would have been even more fun if you had been there for it. Oh, wait. You were hung over so you couldn't." She told him bitingly.

Oliver refused to rise to the bait however. "Speedy, do you have ANY idea of the amount of trouble you could have and likely will be in after today?"

Thea only scoffed and rolled her eyes at her brother. "Oh here we go with the hypocritical crap again. Jesus Ollie, why are you such a drag!?" She exclaimed angrily.

Oliver regarded her for a moment with something close to coldness in his eyes. Something despite the slight high Thea was feeling actually still noticed. "Let's see, I grew up thanks to being ship wrecked on an island and then being forced into doing things I REALLY did NOT want to do. Any OTHER stupid questions?" He asked her somewhat coldly. Not that she really gave a damn at that moment. But later? Oh yeah there'd be some guilt big time.

"Oh big whoop! Shouldn't have been a coward with Laurel then! And why aren't you hiding in your room and letting mom take care of this instead?" She could see how her words had hurt him, but she really felt he just needed to butt out. And if it took saying something really wrong, she'd do it if it got him out of her hair so that she could head to bed.

If her brother was angry before, he was definitely beyond that now. "Our mother is busy dealing with the load of crap you pulled today. And before I say something I'll likely regret... Get. The. HELL. Out. Of. My. Face. And don't think for a DAMNED second I don't see that hickey on your neck." He grounded out, clearly showing just how hard that remark had hit him.

Thea glared at him and stomped towards him and before he realized what happened. She stomped down hard on his bare foot. Thankfully not with the more pointed part of her boot. "SCREW YOU!" She roared out at him, tears visibly seen in her eyes and then running upstairs to her room.

Oliver howled in pain from having his foot stomped on so hard. Moira came rushing out to the foyer, concern written clearly across her face. "OLIVER! What happened!? Where's Thea!?" She asked frantically while helping her son sit down.

"In... Her room. Her boot... Met my foot." He had to ground out through clenched teeth.

Moira just sighed unhappily at being informed of that. "I'll... Just go and try and have a word with her then hmm?" She doubted however that she'd have any better luck with her daughter.

She heard a grunt from her son as she headed up the stairs to have a talk with her daughter. Unaware that her son was quickly developing an idea.  _I think... I think its time Speedy got some babysitters._ Oh yes, it was high time. Maybe they'd be able to prevent her from doing more stupid crap.

**Elsewhere in Starling City...**

In one of the higher classed apartment suites that Starling City had to offer those that could afford it contained the quite a few powerful and dangerous men. They were the top heads of the Triad, one of the most dangerous organizations that China had. At the head of the table sat the man known as Zhishan. The main primary head of the entire Triad organization. Since the capture of his most prized apprentice Chien Na Wei, he had not been a happy man. And quite a few underlings and other unfortunates had paid the price for his anger. Currently he and the others were gathered to discuss the growing threat to their businesses here in the city. And what they could do about it.

"We will discuss our plans for what to do about the interloper in our operations for later, but now my friends. We must focus instead on freeing Chien Na Wei from those who keep her from us." Zhishan began, instantly causing everyone else to quiet down.

A man known as Zhade spoke up next. He was one of the ones responsible for ensuring that money they were owed was delivered to them as was needed to be. "We do not even know where she is." He stated reasonably.

Zhishan regarded him a moment before speaking. "I am aware of this, and I am already taking steps to locate her as we speak. I believe we should hire the services of Mr. Lawton, Mr. Barrera, and Mr. Turner for the break out once we have located her."

"An interesting mix if there ever was one." Zhade spoke up again as he considered it. Especially as he and many others were aware of the rather close relationship Mr. Turner and Chien Na Wei had. Something Zhishan still had yet to approve of.

Zhishan himself agreed on the man's words and then asked if the others were in agreement. Hearing a chorus of approvals, he decided to move on to their next bit of business.

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**Author's Notes: WHOO! And this is finished! I hope you all will have enjoyed this chapter. As for why the Triad are speaking English, I kinda figured they would feel comfortable and safe enough to use the language in a secure spot like the one they are in. Up next? Oliver puts his plan into motion to try and keep Thea out of trouble. R and R!**


	16. Oliver's Plan

**What If?**

**Making The Call**

**Chapter 16**

**Oliver's Plan**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. Now... Let's get it on! And apologies if this seems short to anyone.**

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It had taken him several days of research into who he could bring on board to keep track of Thea in effort to keep her from getting into more trouble and possibly doing things that his pre-island self would have done for the fun of it. He had decided not to approach Shrieve about this as he didn't think the man would be all that willing and there was no way in Hell he was going to try and get in contact with Waller and get her involved. As there was no telling what she would do. And the scenarios he thought of actually made him shudder a little. But finally, after all the research he had done he had learned that two of the best in Personal Security were known as the Diggles. One even having served in the military as well. He found it to be a perfect thing. And currently he was sitting at a table in a place known as Big Belly Burger in the Glades waiting on the two to arrive.

Coming here had actually been there idea as well. And considering the rather friendly atmosphere it had, he could see why they chose the place. Heck he was even thinking of coming here again in the future as the food was actually pretty enjoyable too! The door opening again caused him to look up, and what he saw made him happy as it seemed his incoming company had finally arrived. One was bigger then the other, prompting Oliver to think that perhaps the bigger man had been the one to be in the service. A lady who he had learned earlier on to be known as Carly and a rather nice woman at that, greeted the two with a smile and hugs for both. Making him think that either it was a case of old friends, family, or perhaps something else. Not that it was really his business of course.

After the pleasantries were exchanged, the two saw him and headed his way. He stood up in order to greet them properly, as first impressions were an important thing. Even if he was still rather hairy looking. "Hi! Thanks for agreeing to see me, I really do appreciate it." He told them with something that came close to a smile on his face as he offered his hand for a handshake.

The smaller one was the first to take his proffered hand with a smile of his own. "Its no problem at all, I'm Andy and this is my brother John. We appreciate you calling us Mr. Queen."

John was the next to shake the man's hand and the three then sat down afterwards. Oliver noticed however that John seemed to be assessing his surroundings, which he guessed was due to his time in the service. Heck he had the same habit himself so he couldn't exactly say much on it. "So you're needing us for a little babysitting duty?" John asked after a moment of looking around. Which made his brother roll his eyes in exasperation due to the slight bluntness of the question.

Oliver nodded and appreciated the bluntness the man was giving him. "Yeah, that's correct. My sister needs to be watched, though I would prefer it if she was not to know you were even there unless its absolutely necessary. Naturally I will be informing my mother of this so that she is aware and not having to worry about why two strange men are following her daughter."

"I believe we can handle that Mr. Queen. Though I am sure it won't require both of us to do the job." Andy told the man. Sure the pay would be good but he knew they would have to handle other jobs too as they came since it was the only real sort of job they had to stay afloat.

The Queen Scion nodded in understanding at the man's words. "Oh I'm sure it won't, even if its just one of you doing it I'll be pretty happy. Maybe I could even learn a thing or two from you guys myself."

John nodded at the man's words. Despite knowing what happened to him, having Oliver Queen in front of him helped him to see that the young man had definitely been through his own war of sorts against Survival. And while he knew his brother tried to understand, he thought that maybe Mr. Queen would be able to relate somewhat with him.  _Never hurts to try at least._ He thought to himself. Of course a big part of John Diggle would rather be doing something other then protecting some bratty one percenter. But he wasn't going to say that at all.

"Yeah man, I'm sure we could." John finally said. Gaining himself a nod in the process. Even Andy thought it might be a good idea to give the guy a few pointers. He wasn't sure if Queen could do the same in return but he wasn't really going to care too much either way.

The three then spent an hour and half furthing discussing any plans they had. Oliver even got to learn just who Carly was to them. And decided yet again that he was going to come here again to this place. Maybe even try and get his sister to make a visit too. All in all for the man who was once far from home, things had turned out rather nicely for him.

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**Author's Notes: Apologies for taking so long to update this on here, but at least I've got plenty to share!**


	17. The Breakout

**Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. Now... Let's get it on!**

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It had been nearly a month and Spring was in full effect. It had taken the Triad nearly this long to gather intelligence on where Chien Na Wei was being kept. And then the planning that had to be done in order to free her. But it had all finally paid off as they were finally putting their plan into action on a rather pleasant Tuesday night at a small well hidden military base near the border of North Carolina. Currently Floyd 'Deadshot' Lawton was getting himself into position to help ensure that all went well on their job. While he was doing so, Turner and Barrera were inside the building taking their time so as not to arouse suspicion. It also helped they were wearing the required dress code of the building as well. Several of Barrera's Mala Noche were also inside with them as well in case they were needed. More, along with some of the Triad were waiting nearby too in order to make for a quick get away once Chien Na Wei was outside.

While Barrera headed towards the security station that also controlled the cells in order to secure it, Turner made his way towards the cell that his girl was being kept in. Getting nods from those as he passed by made him want to smirk as they all clearly had no idea what was about to happen. It was a pity however that he wasn't able to bring his claws with him, but his other skills would help him out in that regard. Plus the required hand gun that all at the base were required to have on them would help him out considerably as well. "Barrera, what's your status?" The man asked quietly so as not to be heard.

" _I've secured the room and I have you in my sights on the camera. I see no others just yet._ " He reported in his Hasarugian accent. He could be seen sitting in a chair with two bodies laid out behind him. Whether or not they were dead however was another matter entirely.

Turner nodded, satisfied at how things were going. Once he arrived at the cell he needed to be at he quickly came to see that two guards were stationed on both sides of the cell.  _Well, isn't that nice of them? Such high praise for my girl._  He thought to himself with a little mental smirk.

One of the guards however quickly took action. "HALT!" And proceeded to walk towards him with his weapon easily seen.

"Whoa! No need to be so alert. I was told to bring our guest here her dinner." He told the guard smoothly.

The guard eyed him a bit more before nodding and letting him pass. Once he got closer to the other guard with the other following closely behind. He asked the question on his mind. "So, do I walk in or just slide it underneath?" The second man eyed him suspiciously. Something Turner easily noticed.

"Hey its my first time doing something like this." He explained in what he felt was a reasonable explanation.

The man nodded at that despite his suspicion. "You can just slide it under, works better that way for your health." He told the man seriously with a shudder. As Lord knows he'd seen what that crazy chick could do with just her legs!

Turner nodded at that and reached to bend down to deliver the food. After doing so, he quickly knocked over the second guard with a leg sweep followed by him grabbing his specially upgraded hand piece to shoot the first guard silently so as not to draw more heat his way. Leaning over the second man who was groaning from being knocked down to the hard ground. He shot the man directly in the heart, instantly killing him. "Barrera, we are good to go."

" _Copy that._ " And seconds later the door opened and Turner stepped inside.

Wondering where China White was as it happened to be quite dark in the room. Which made him wonder if they were trying to keep her deprived of any kind of light as a means to break her.  _And they say we are scum._  He thought unhappily to himself.

Before he could do anything else however, he was suddenly pushed into a wall. "Who the hell are you!?" The voice asked angrily.

"Your rescue party of course." Turner told her dryly, as if he hadn't a single worried about possibly being killed.

"Turner?"

"Yep, the one and only." He grinned despite the fact it couldn't be seen. Even with the light that barely seemed to enter the room. Something he wondered how they were able to even accomplish.

He sensed her letting go and used that to pull her with him into the hallway. China White was forced to cover her eyes with one hand due to being so un-used to light. The extra gift that had been included with her dinner in her other hand. "Well even months in prison and you still manage to look so well."

China smirked to herself after hearing his words and chanced to look over at him. "Well a girl does have to stay looking good somehow after all. Even if she's forced to spend a great deal of her time in the dark." Was her counter to him, shortly before she grabbed him and gave perhaps one of the most passionate kisses he'd had in quite some time. The fire easily was easily felt between the two.

"Damn! I have missed that!" Her paramour and savior told her with a huge grin on his face.

But then he quickly lost the grin and got back to business. "The package has been acquired, we are now moving out." His report quickly gained a couple of acknolwedgements.

" _Let's hope its as easy to get our girl out of there eh Ben?_ " Lawton told him over the earpiece, not the least bit worried about anything.

"Piece of cake." Was all Turner said.

As they made their way towards freedom, the two were soon stopped however by more guards. However before they could do anything, they were shot from behind by a disguised Mala Noche member who motioned for the two to follow him. As they reached the doors they were soon joined by Barrera and the other two Mala Noche members who were inside the building. "Well, I say how about drinks after this hmm?" Clearly leaving it unsaid that it wouldn't be him paying for the drinks.

"I'll settle for the heads of those who put me here in the first place before I'll have a drink." Snarled out China White, who's anger had been building for a good long while during her stay at the base.

Barrera nodded at her in understanding. Though he really didn't care much either way as he was going to get himself a drink no matter what. Before anything else could be said however, Turner spoke up again. "Lawton, how's the outside perimeter looking?"

" _Its looking mighty fine after I took care of all our tower friends Mr. Bronze. So come on out to freedom._ "

"Roger that. Alright, let's move." The apparent team leader of the group ordered.

They quickly strode out across the open yard of the base and could a lone soldier coming their way yelling for them to stop. But Lawton made quick work of him. Having no other concerns as it was evident those who ran the place never thought to have more security in place due to thinking that no one would be able to find them. They quickly got outside of the base and made their way to the pick up site where Zhishan was waiting in a limo. Along side Triad and Mala Noche members in other vehicles. Zhishan's driver held the door open for China White and she quickly got in. Giving a nod to the driver, Turner walked away and quickly got into another vehicle that Lawton was quickly getting into himself. And with that, they all drove away into the cover of darkness.

It'd be sometime before Oliver would find out however as Amanda Waller had ordered things to be kept quiet as possible until she had no other choice but to contact him to let him know. And it would come at a time when his family and Tommy were trying to get him to do something that they hadn't fully thought through and was also something he swore he'd never do again.

 


	18. Bad News and Dumb Ideas

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. Now, let's roll on!  Note that this takes place roughly 2 weeks after the events of the Break Out Chapter.**

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Had Oliver even suspected how this day would go, he would have just stayed in bed. But unfortunately he wasn't a mind reader as he made his way down stairs still waking up after a hard night's time of being a Vigilante. As he made his way past the front room he was suddenly jerked away from his tired musings by the sound of his mother. Which made him want to groan a bit as he just wanted to try and find something that might appeal enough for him to eat.

"Yeah mom?" He called out as he walked into the room, which to his surprise also contained Tommy along with Thea sitting somewhat close to him.

Moira smiled at her son as she thought that Tommy's idea was rather great herself. Not only would it get him out into the open and mingle with others his age. But would perhaps help him get some color back into his skin due to how often he stayed locked up in his room as he tried to keep to himself for the most part. At the moment, she didn't care if her baby boy got himself into trouble so long as he was actually getting out and making an effort to try and finally put his ordeal behind him for good. Course had she even thought about it she wouldn't have even let her surrogate son even bring the idea up to Oliver.

"Tommy has a wonderful idea he wants to bring up to you sweety." She told him happily, which actually made him groan this time as he had an idea or two on just what the idea might be.

Tommy feigned a hurt expression on his face after hearing his best buddy's groan. "Aww come on Ollie! Its not gonna be THAT bad!" He tried to sound as re-assuring as possible.

Oliver sat down in a nearby chair with a sigh, deciding to just bite the bullet. "Alright buddy, what's the idea?"

Tommy leaned forward with a happy eagerness seen on his face. "I thought that you and I after getting some tickets could go crusing for chicks on a cruise. We'd be literally cruising for 'em!" The thought of all those beautiful girls in bathing suits caused a lecherous smile to appear on his face while Thea just looked on his disgust.

The idea suddenly caused Oliver to bolt forward in his chair with an alarmed look on his face. "Cruise? Like on the water? A cruise made up of tons of steel and the like that could easily start to sink for ANY number of reasons WHILE ON THE WATER!? THAT KIND OF CRUISE!?" His voice had risen and was sounding a bit hysterical at the thought of just being on the water again.

Everyone present just looked at one another in alarm before looking to him again. "Oh sweety, would you calm down? You're making it sound so much worse!" His mom clearly wasn't fully thinking this through apparently.

Oliver shot up from his chair and started pacing back and forth a bit wildly like. "Calm down!? How can I calm down when the thought of being out on the open water is enough to make me want to flip out!? Cause yes, yes it is THAT much worse mom!" He had looked down at her with a wild look on his face, clearly trying not to flip out more.

 _Well, this is going SO well!_  Thought Thea, strongly wanting to slap Tommy for the really dumb idea. Her mom too for even thinking this would be a good idea once she heard it. Was she the only smart one around here!?

Tommy stood up and grabbed hold of Oliver by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Whoa buddy, just chill okay? Its gonna be okay." He tried to tell him soothingly.

Oliver just shook his head as if he clearly didn't believe that. "You have no idea at all. I've been on a boat twice in the past few years. It did NOT end well at all! Sure the second time might have been my doing a bit, but the fact is. ME AND BOATS DON'T MIX!" He finally roared out at his friend.

Moira finally understood just where her son was coming from. And it might make one think she was having one of those stereotypical blonde moments here. She wanted to hit herself for not realizing just how much the incident with the Gambit may have affected him. However the mention of another boat left her pretty damn curious. Especially with how it was somehow his doing. Something she resolved to ask him very soon when the time was appropriate. Along with this Shado person he'd spoken of, as her own searches weren't going too well.

 _Oh Ollie..._ Thea thought sadly. Sure they had their issues over the crap he was doing regarding her. But he was still her big brother darn it!

Tommy had stepped back from his friend in shock. He too hadn't even thought about how this might affect his friend.  _Guess that's what happens when I've got fun times with the ladies on my mind._ Was the sour thought from him.

"Buddy, I am SO sorry! Had I even thought this out, I would NEVER have done this." He told his best friend seriously.

Oliver nodded at him but the wariness of what just happened was still very plain to see on his face. "Just never suggest something like that again and we'll be fine Tommy." The seriousness in both his voice and on his face told Tommy it was a really good idea to firmly keep what happened in mind before having a water related idea again. Though he was curious if this would include a pool type situation. But he wasn't about to ask about that right now.

Satisfied he had seemingly gotten through to his friend, he happened to look down at the small table that was in front of the couch his sister was sitting on. The sight of it made his blood boil a bit and was wanting to make him freak out again. "JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING DOING THERE!?" He roared out, okay so maybe he would freak out after all instead of keeping it in.

Thea looked around in confusion before realizing her brother was pointing at the table. "What? All the fruits and vegetables? Their always there Ollie, even you know that." Was her retort as if she was speaking to a small child instead of an adult.

"Yeah, yeah I know that. But those apples, WHY are they there!?" God how he had come to hate apples. And likely knew it was irrational to others but not for him.

 _Ohh so that's what he's flipping out about! Time to mess with him a little._  Her little happy thought kept her from seeing that her mom and Tommy were looking at one another in alarm again over how he was reacting to the apples.

Thea grabbed one and raised it up at her brother. "Well big brother, they are SUPPOSED to be there with all the other sweet tasting goods. Want one?" Was her innocent sounding question. Though in reality it was no where near innocent.

Oliver's eyes bugged out at the offer from his sister. Didn't she know those things are evil jerky little portenders of doom!? "NO! Keep it away from me Speedy!" He frantically told her, the whole cruise thing now pretty much gone from his mind at the sight of those blasted apples.

"Aww, okay!" Acting as if saddened by the idea of having her chosen apple rejected. She put back into the bowl while trying her hardest not to start smiling or giggling. The other two still had yet to say anything. Though Moira was clearly thinking that perhaps it was best to start talking to her son a bit more about going to therapy if the sight of apples was making him react like this.

The phone ringing in the hallway was a welcome distraction and Thea got up to go and answer it. As she knew Raisa was busy elsewhere at the moment. "Hello! Thea Queen speaking." She spoke brightly into the phone.

" _I need to speak with your brother immediately._ " The tone was a no nonsense one from a woman who's voice Thea clearly didn't recognize. But then again, she couldn't be too surprised by that considering all her brother had gotten up too before the island. Course bossy types weren't exactly his type!

"Uh-huh, and just why do you need to talk to my brother? Did he sleep with you and then never call back and you've finally had enough of waiting around?" She asked the other person snarkily.

" _I would sooner step onto a land mine Miss Queen then let your brother touch me in such a way Miss Queen._ " The response was curt and clearly annoyed already. Though Thea just didn't care how the woman sounded. For Queens don't get demanded of anything, THEY do the demanding thank you very much!

"Whoa, well that's pretty harsh lady!"

A low sigh of annoyance could be heard and she had to fight back a little chuckle at what she was causing. " _Enough games Miss Queen, tell your brother that Amanda Waller needs to speak to him NOW!_ " Thea had to wince at the volume of the voice.

"Ugh, fine whatever lady." She muttered, now annoyed herself before turning to look in Ollie's direction.

"Hey Ollie! Some lady named Shanda Baller wants to talk to you!" Having not bothered to keep from being heard by the woman on the line, she knew that had to have annoyed her just as well. And mentally added another win to her tally.

To Thea's surprise however, Oliver bolted rather quickly to her and snatched the phone from her hand. He then walked out of the room to try and gain some privacy. Thea however happened to spot the slightly scared look on her brother's face and hoped whoever this lady was that she wasn't about to bring trouble into her big brother's life.

"What do you want!?" He hissed angrily into the phone. Very unhappy with Waller calling his home of all places. Course had she shown up at his home he would have been just as unhappy over it.

He heard a tsking noise come from the woman. The obvious scolding he was receiving annoyed him pretty quickly. " _Now now Mr. Queen, no need for hostility._ "

Oliver had to scoff at that. "Of course there's a need for hostility when it comes to you." He bit back, not realizing he had an audience of three nearby.

" _While I could waste my time debating the matter with you Mr. Queen, I am going to get right down to the matter of why I'm calling you. Precisely two weeks ago China White gained her freedom after being broken out by several Triad associates of her' suspected that Mala Noche were involved as well._ "

Whether or not she was expecting him to have any idea who the Mala Noche are was beyond him as he just didn't care. As the news of the white haired nightmare was the primary concern for him. "SHE'S WHAT!? HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!?" He yelled out very angrily.

" _I did not LET it happen Mr. Queen, and you will do well to remember NOT to raise your voice with me either._ " The threat could be clearly heard in her tone of voice, causing Oliver to swallow a bit nervously. As he had a rather good idea of what she would be liable to do.

" _It was an entirely unexpected event. But rest assured Mr. Queen it is one that will NOT be happening again. Rather than keep you in the dark about this, I felt it was best to inform you. And if you have some way of contacting the Yamashiros, I suggest you warn them as well._ " However she planned to have the Queen phone lines tapped so she could gleam information on to their whereabouts. As it was past time they be dealt with for going AWOL on her.

Oliver scoffed at that, already having an idea of just what she might do. Unfortunately for her however, he didn't know a way to contact them. "Yeah well, thanks for the bad news. And no, I sure as Hell don't have a way to get in contact with them."

" _A pity then._ " Was all he heard before she hung up. The action made him huff in annoyance but was glad that was over now.

He turned back to return to the front room and stopped as he saw his family and Tommy looking at him expectantly. He groaned as he realized that they had been listening in. "Trouble dear?" His mom asked, worry clearly seen on her face and heard in her voice.

He handed the phone to Thea before giving a reply. "Oh no, just some bad news unfortunately."

Before anyone else could reply however, he hurried off to his room. Unfortunately for him however, Raisa happened to be inside giving it a clean. And when she saw him, the look on her face was not a happy one as she was holding the un-opened meds pack in her hand.  _Aww crap._  He knew then and there he was in trouble with his surrogate mother.

"Mr. Oliver, I believe we need to talk." Yep, definitely in trouble.


	19. An Unpleasant Talk With Raisa

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story.**

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"We need to talk? About what?" He so didn't want to deal with this after hearing the REALLY dumb idea of Tommy's minutes ago. Followed by the She Beast's call that came with bad news.

Raisa looked at him with an unimpressed look on her features, as she already knew what he was trying to do and years of being with the family made her well versed in how he tried to stall or act as if he didn't know what was going on. "Yes Mr. Oliver, we DO need to talk." Her response was serious and told him she didn't want to deal with nonsense from him.

Which was unfortunate for her as he had no desire to talk about this with her. Or pretty much anybody else really for that matter. "Why are you not taking the meds your mother told me you are supposed to be taking? Hmm?" As really, if the doctor said he needed to take it. Then he needed to take it!

Oliver only sighed at this as he really could see no way out of this. "I honestly just feel I don't need it, that's all. I feel fine! Better than I ever have actually." He told her with a smile on his face as he began to persuade her of this lie of his.

The hands on the hips clearly told him she wasn't buying what he was selling. Which only added to the anger he was already feeling as it was. "Hah! If you are perfectly fine then I am not Russian Mr. Oliver!"

The Queen scion groaned in annoyance at that. "I hope you aren't implying then that my whole life has been a lie regarding your Russian status!?" He asked jokingly, hoping that one last try would deter her.

Ordinarily Raisa would have smiled at the joke but the seriousness of the situation but this was a situation that smiles would do no good. As it would only give him the sense that he was winning. "Quit your stalling young man!"

"Its none of your business Raisa and you know it. Matter of fact you're crossing a line you shouldn't be crossing." He knew that would be a low blow but he was done with this conversation.

And a low blow it was for the long time maid of the house as she reared back in shock from the young man's words. "None of my business!? I have been with you and this family for years, you are practically like one of my own, which makes it my business and the business of your mother! Who I assure you will be learning of this very soon! Those pills are supposed to help you get better!" She doubted her warning would hold weight considering all the things he pulled before the island but she had to try anyway.

"Well I'm flattered and all, but again... NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS RAISA! As you NEED to remember your place here in this household. As you seem to have forgotten what that is and I'd be happy to remind you of that if need be." Had he not been so angry he wouldn't have gone that far and already knew he was going to regret this a good while.

Tears were now gleaming in Raisa's eyes as she heard the horrible words from his mouth. Words she never ever thought she'd hear him say to her. But say he did and knew now that it was just best to be done with this before it got any worse. "Very well then Mr. Queen, if that is how it will be. Then I will take my leave to elsewhere in this household." She tried to sound composed as she said it, but it was damned hard for her to do.

Oliver only nodded at that. "Yes, that would be appreciated. As again I am perfectly fine and don't need those damned pills." He was clearly trying to restrain himself from letting more of his anger seep into his words, but it definitely wasn't easy. Raisa dropped the med pack and practically ran from the room with her tears now unrestrained. She would talk with Mrs. Queen about this problem but it would have to wait a bit as she needed to regain her composure first.

"Damn... That did not go well.." Oliver muttered to himself with a frustrated sigh, unhappy as can be with himself.

 _How the hell can I fix this? Not even she deserved that kind of crap from me..._  This was going to take more then an apology to fix the mess he just caused.


	20. A Talk or Two (And the Irritation of Laurel)

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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It had been several hours since Raisa had had that rather painful talk with Mr. Oliver and now that she felt better composed with herself. She felt it was time that she brought the situation to Mrs. Queen's attention. Which hopefully the Queen Matriarch would be able to get through her son's blasted stubbornness and accept the help he's been given. She eventually found Mrs. Queen in her room getting ready for what likely would be an event she was invited to attend. She gave a light knock on the open door to indicate her presence being there.

Moira instantly turned towards her and aimed a smile at the long time maid of her home. "Yes Raisa?" An undercurrent of worry could be heard in the woman's voice as she hoped that whoever had called her son didn't decide to show up here.

"I need to talk to you about Mr. Oliver. I know this is likely not my place to do so but several hours ago I had a rather unpleasant talk with that boy." Moira was visibly alarmed at that as there had never been a time when Raisa and her son were ever at odds. Even during his more unsuitable moments, as Raisa would simply smile and handle him as she was able too. Something Moira had privately admitted to herself that she did feel a bit envious of.

Moira walked closer to the woman before speaking. "Now what on Earth could happen that would cause for such a thing?" Moira truly was baffled by this and it showed. Something that Raisa could understand.

The maid sighed, not wishing to rehash what happened but knowing it had to be done. "For the longest time since he's return, I hadn't been inside his room to clean it as he said he would take care of that sort of thing himself. Though admittedly I was afraid of what his definition of cleanliness would be as he is still a young man after all. So I went in while he was out and one thing I immediately noticed after turning on the lights was that pack of medicines you told me about. And Mrs. Queen, to my shock they were un-opened." She could be visibly seen now wringing her hands a bit at having to go into this.

Let it not be said that Raisa is quite nicely a great woman, but serious and unpleasant confrontations were not something she was a fan of. Moira had always wondered if it may have been from a possibly unpleasant home life from when she was younger but never asked. As really, how could one ask such a thing of a friend? And yes, Moira did consider the long time maid a friend as it was hard not to think of her like that.

"You mean... You mean to tell me that my boy has not been doing as he should?" How could he be so irresponsible!? He needed those medicines if he was to get better!

All she received was a sad look and a nod of confirmation from the other woman. Making Moira huff in annoyance at her son's actions. "The talk we had after he returned to his room over his not using them was most unpleasant Mrs. Queen. Even made mention that I should know my place in this house hold." Raisa was looking downward now, as if ashamed of what had transpired. And likely afraid to look at Moira's face for fear that she had indeed crossed a line.

She was surprised though when the Queen Matriarch hugged her. "You have nothing to be ashamed about Raisa, I promise you that. And I don't believe you crossed any line at all. I know you two are close and had a right to say something. I truly do appreciate your involvement in trying to make that boy better." Moira was a smart woman and could easily tell what the other was likely thinking. Plus years of being around her made it easy to do so.

The Russian looked up in surprise at the woman's words. "You mean that? I won't be in trouble?"

Moira's heart broke at the hesitance in the woman's voice and hugged her again. "Of course I mean it Raisa. And no, you are with out a doubt not in trouble." Her warm smile conveyed the sincerity of her words. Making Raisa smile in relief as well.

"Thank you Mrs. Queen, I feel much better now. I um.. I'll leave you be now."

"You are quite welcome my dear and I am happy to hear of it. I can assure you that Oliver and I will have a talk very soon." She told the woman as she followed her out of the door with a determined expression that was mixed with anger on her face.

And it didn't take her long to find her son either as he was still in his room with his door still open. Not even bothering to knock as she came in. Causing Oliver to startle a bit from his spot on his bed and then wince at the expression on her face. He had a feeling that Raisa had in fact told his mother about what happened. And whether or not she was just now coming to him after having calmed herself down or just now heard about it and didn't want to wait to be calm was something he was not quite sure of. "Oh hi mom, just come right on in." He told her sarcastically.

The look he got from her told him she was not impressed with his sarcasm.  _Crap, Slade would likely enjoy this a lot if he were here right now._

"Young man, I've just been informed by Raisa of your APPALLING behavior towards her hours ago." The arching of an eyebrow and crossing her arms was her practically daring him to challenge that claim.

Oliver could only sigh to that as he now had the big impression he was in trouble now. Trouble is, he still felt some anger from earlier and it was likely about to get him in trouble all over again. "Yeah, I did mom. What I did had to be done as she crossed a line and you know it." Pigheaded stubbornness is never a good thing. Especially when you're an angry mess at the moment.

"Is that so?" The tone of the question bordering the line of icyness.

"What else would it be mom? She had no business in saying anything to me." Lord how Moira wanted to slap her fool son for the stupidity he was spouting.

"Of course she had business in saying so! She's more then just a maid who works for us here as she's practically family now! Honestly Oliver, do you even hear what is coming from your mouth!? Even your father would be ashamed!" If he wasn't already feeling that way as it is from wherever he happened to be on the otherside.

"Yeah well, dad's dead and I do hear what's coming out of my mouth and just don't particularly care right now. As you might can tell, I don't care about a whole lot these days. And if you think she had business in saying what she did, then that's your choice." His biting remarks towards her made the woman gasp a bit in how he was being about everything.

"Do not think for one second that I will not put you over my knee Oliver." She told him warningly as she is his mother damnit!

To her annoyance, he scoffed and rolled his eyes at her. "Oh yeah, NOW you choose to try and be a parent. Great way to start so late mom." He even gave her a thumb's up to go along with his comment.

And he instantly felt the stinging sensation of a slap from his own mother who pretty much was not a happy camper. He was definitely shocked as he could never ever remember a time she had done something like that to him. And it must have been showing on his face too after a comment was made by his mother. "I see you're shocked at what just happened dear, perhaps its best you re-think any further negative comments young man." She told him a steely voice and giving him a glare that could melt ice.

Not that the glare scared him any as he'd seen much, much worse then that aimed at him in the past. He gave his stinging face a rubbing as he looked at her with his own angry glare present and trying his best not to say a very wrong thing here and therefore making it worse for him. "And why is that exactly? Afraid I'll say something else that's true?" He winced internally as it seemed he was just going to keep digging his own grave.

She narrowed her eyes at him for that comment, feeling more angrier then she'd been in sometime. "Were you not an adult, I would ground you. Now here's what you are going to do. You will go and find Raisa and apologize, and then begin to take what the doctor asked you to take. Then you'll make a call to see a therapist. Is. That. Clear?" Her tone was the kind that meant business and that she wasn't about to take more nonsense from him.

Oliver scoffed again as he wished she would just leave him the Hell alone already. "Yeah, no. I don't think I'll do anything like that. Ya see, I'm a big boy now mom and I don't have to listen to a single damn thing you want me to do." Maybe if she knew he was already thinking of how best to apologize she probably wouldn't be on his ass. Then again, maybe she still would be considering how he acted towards Raisa.

"If that's the case then Oliver, I could just as easily cut off access to your trust fund and make you leave this house until you are ready to be an adult." That was the last thing she wanted to ever have to do. But honestly, her own son was pretty much forcing her to do it!

Oliver laughed at her threats. Though it sounded hollow to her ears. "Oh wow, I'm honestly scared of that mom. But you seem to forget one tiny little detail about me. I survived nearly 3 years on my own with limited help. I survived nearly 3 years with out a trust fund or a steady rooftop over my head. SO GO AHEAD! CUT ME OFF! THROW ME OUT! I'LL MAKE DO AS I'VE DONE FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS!" The rage in him couldn't be contained any longer. Hell he honestly didn't give a damn at all if she did do that to him. As like he told her, he would survive just fine on his own. Though he knew he was going to be feeling horribly guilty about this later when he finally calmed down the rage in him.

 _Maybe I do need some help..._ He thought worriedly to himself, especially if he was going to start flying off the handle when a situation got pretty stressful. What would that say for his night time activities if he did the same there? Just more issues for him to deal with unfortunately.

His mother stepped back with shock written all over her face. Unsure of what she could say in the face of her own son's rage she quickly fled the room. Desperately trying to keep the tears from coming down her face. Now more unsure than ever as to how she could help her son. As clearly acting as if nothing had happened wasn't working. Oliver only could shake his head in the negative at how he'd just been with his mom. Falling back down onto the edge of his bed with his hands covering his face, more disgusted with himself then he'd ever been before in his life. He could even feel tears of his own wanting to break free.

 _Is there someway to fix this? Can I gain forgiveness for my actions? Would they even be willing?_ Those thoughts and others now ran rampant in his mind as he felt increasingly lost in a sea of rage and uncertainty.

**And now, Laurel's own troubling issues...**

While that had been going on, Laurel had also been dealing with an issue of her own for the last hour. And it was honestly making her wish she hadn't of ever allowed Tommy to come inside despite his need to talk. Heck, she had just thought it was another issue with his dad again. But oh no, it wasn't about that at all. No, it was about that douchebag cheating ex of her's. She'd been listening to Tommy rant a good while about how Ollie had totally rejected his plan to go cruising for chicks on a cruise. And really, what kind of great idea was that!? Hell even she figured that Ollie wouldn't be too willing to be on open waters again.

And she didn't even need to be around him to know that either! As it paid to do a little research in to how survivors of ship wrecks handled the aftermaths. Plus the fact that Tommy was out looking for other girls when he was supposedly interested in her infuriated her. And made her think way too much of Ollie and his habits as it is.  _Maybe I should re-evaluate my taste in men._

"And then he's all flipping out about it. Like really, I don't see the need to get that crazy over it! And then he flips out about apples!? Apples of all things! Who does that!? God I miss my best friend." Tommy finished off sadly. He still very clearly needed to do some more growing up if he couldn't figure out why his own best friend would get a bit crazy over an idea like his.

Laurel's eye twitched and before she could stop herself. She slapped him on the back of his head. "OW! What'd you do that for!?" He asked defensively while rubbing the sore spot.

She gave him a look that was practically saying she felt he was being an oblivious idiot. "When you finally figure that out Tommy, then you can come back. But right now, just get out and don't show up for awhile."

The look on his face was comical and she would have laughed if her irritation with him going on about Ollie's rejection of his grand idea wasn't so strong. She'd rather have had him trying to get into her pants thank you very much! At least that was more tolerable. "But..." He tried to start and got a finger pointing in the direction of her front door for his trouble.

"No 'buts' Tommy. You are being an idiot and I don't want anything to do with it right now. Plus, I SO DON'T want to be hearing about Ollie." The annoyance was easy to be heard in his voice.

Tommy stood up and tried to defend himself, but the finger still being pointed towards the front door and the look she was giving him made him fall short. "Fine, I'll see you some other time then." He sourly told her and proceeded to head out. But not before giving her one last look.

"Are you..."

"TOMMY!" The reprimand made him throw his arms up in frustration and he finally took the hint and walked out of her apartment.

Laurel soon dropped onto the couch, happy as Hell that he finally left. "Honestly, why the Hell do I keep bothering!?" And she genuinely wanted to know too.


	21. A Wildcat Cometh!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea you see within this story. Now.. Let's roll on!**

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It had been a long month since the fall out between Oliver and his mom, and with Raisa as well. To say that things had not been pleasant would be an understatement. He was barely even speaking with Thea and Tommy as well since then too. It hadn't helped that Thea stomped on his foot and hit him on the back of his head after she found out what he did. The apples she also started to leave laying around where she knew he'd see them definitely didn't help either. Nor the t-shirts with apples on them or the blasted documentaries on apples she kept somehow finding. Needless to say, Oliver either kept as much to himself as possible in his room or stayed outside somewhere on the grounds to avoid his sister, their mom, and Raisa. He had even tried the medications for the depression and PTSD the doctor believes he has a few times as well but hated how they pretty much made him feel useless. Something he was sure he had mentioned to his mom once, but his memory was a bit foggy in that area considering how out of it he was thanks to the meds at the time.

He was at least however taking the one for the infection from both the cut on his arm and the tattoo Slade's thug had given him on the Amazo. Even though he felt he didn't need it, but decided to do so anyway since it would at least get rid of one issue for him. Nicely enough he did realize he wasn't feeling as irritable from those two areas anymore. Currently however, he was focused on a mission that would at least help resolve one of the issues he had in his household. Said mission? Locating wherever the heck Raisa was and finally apologizing. Looking back on what he did with her and later his mom really made him feel ashamed of himself.

He finally managed to find her in the mansion's laundry room separating the whites from the colors. He cleared his throat a few minutes after he realized how into her work she was. The sound startled the woman and she turned around to see who it could be who would do that. "Oh! You startled me there!"

Oliver only smiled at her and to her immense surprise hugged her. Something that also alarmed her quite a bit as he hadn't exactly been the hugging type since he'd been back. "Mr. Oliver? Is everything okay?" She asked him worriedly when she pulled back enough to look him in the eyes.

It warmed his heart considerably to hear her call him that. "I could lie about how things are okay, but I'd be lying. I just... I just wanted to hug you Raisa. Hug you and apologize." His tone was sincere and serious, something that honestly had tears welling up in the older woman's eyes and made her initiate the hug this time.

"Oh Mr. Oliver, it warms my heart greatly to hear this from you." Which was something she honestly wasn't expecting him to do considering how he could be back in the day. But this right here is a clear sign to her on how much he has changed to become the man she knew he could be if he truly wanted.

"Your warmed heart is my happiness ma'am." He told her honestly with that smile still on his face and feeling a weight off his shoulders from her accepting his apology.

He looked past her to where the dirty clothes were and then looked back at her again. "How about I help you out with this?" She looked at him in surprise before turning to look behind her and realizing what he meant.

"Oh no Mr. Oliver, you don't need to do that." Though secretly she wouldn't mind seeing how he would be able to handle it. If only to spend a bit more time with him even if doing the laundry took a bit longer than expected.

"I don't need too, but I want too. Besides its time someone helped you out when you do so much for us." He stated reasonably making her swell a bit more with pride.

"Oh very well then Mr. Oliver. Let's get started!" And so the two did and in the end, Raisa would be pleasantly surprised at how well a job he did. When she later asked him about it, he simply told her that someone he knew in Hong Kong pretty much made him do his own laundry as she wasn't about to do it. Leaving Raisa to really wanting to thank the woman who helped, if even just a little to grow up while he was gone.

**Later that night...**

Oliver was out in the Glades in full gear, prepared for a night of taking down crooks and drug dealers so that others could be just a bit safer. He was glad he hadn't taken any of the meds that day that would have left him feeling useless as he was looking to relieve a little tension. Though admittedly today had been one of the better days he'd had in awhile due to the time he spent with Raisa. And currently he was taking a little break on a rooftop near some gym when he heard a commotion going on below him. Looking down he saw three guys harrassing one lone man. He was debating on whether or not he should get involved when the lone guy started to fight the three on his own, but during the fight one of the men pulled out a gun. Forcing the fighter to hold up in his arms in surrender. He could somewhat hear the cocky thug yelling at the lone man about how he was out of luck this time.

Quickly firing off an arrow into the man's hand that held the gun and causing him to howl in pain from it. He then made his way down as quickly as he was able too and headed straight for the thug and would be shooter. "You're lucky I didn't aim somewhere more fatal, now get your friends and get out of here." his voice modulator made him sound way more menacing and it was just the thing he needed too when dealing with wastes of life like this.

"Agh! Oh yeah weirdo!? What are you gonna do about it when there's only one of you and 5 more of me? Huh!?" And true to his word, five more of his friends joined in on the fun while the other two were still thankfully knocked out.

"Well, this is a fine mess to be into tonight." The hassled individual muttered a bit loudly to himself.

Oliver looked over at the man and noticed that he looked rather lean with a clean shaven head. The fact he seemed not too bothered about the whole thing suggested to him that he'd been in a situation like this before. "It could always be worse." He decided to say.

He got his own look from the man in return for that. Who obviously wanted to ask how it could be but didn't think he wanted to know. As is he still had enough on his mind after that whole fiasco with his partner during his own time as a vigilante.

"So boys, what do ya say to a little house cleanin'?" The man Oliver shot in the hand earlier asked.

"Ooh yeah I'm down! That way we can take over baldy boy's gym for ourselves! Yah ha ha ha!" A purple haired punk called out and looked to be high if his twitching and red eyes were any kind of indication.

That received a chorus of agreements from the remaining thugs. "Well you heard 'em fellas, I guess its just not your lucky night." The lead thug said with a menacing smile on his face as they started to advance.

This action prompted Oliver and the man he saved to look at one another. "So two on 6 then?" Oliver only nodded an agreement and they too walked towards the thugs.

What followed was a rather brutal fight that would leave the bunch considering another safer career or a long hospital stay followed by time in prison for their past crimes. After it was all over, the two victors looked at one another again. "Hey man, thanks a lot for helpin' out. But take it from me, what you're doing in that get up? Just stop before its too late." He hoped he could get through to the bow wielding man who just helped him out.

Oliver only looked at him for a moment before responding. "Was happy to help, and if you're trying to save me then don't bother. I'm already commited to this no matter how long it takes me." The other man could hear the seriousness in the archer's voice. Course it helped that the modulator was still on so he would have sounded pretty darn serious either way.

He sighed to himself in resignation after a few minutes of thinking as the archer went to tie up the thugs for the cops to come and get. "Look, you obviously need a little training and as much as I don't like the thought of anybody doing the work of a vigilante, why don't you come inside and I'll help you out with a few tips as a way of payment for tonight?"

Oliver looked over at the man before responding. "I don't do what I do as payment."

"I get that, trust me. But what could it hurt huh?" Oliver had to admit that the man had a good point.

"If you insist, maybe while we're doing that you can tell me about why you seem so against vigilantism."

The lean man nodded his own approval as he obviously didn't mind sharing that even if it was a bit on the painful side. As to him, maybe if he told his story it would get this guy to stop. "By the way, I'm Ted Grant but sometimes I get called Wildcat. Or well, I used too anyway." He reached out with one of his hands for the archer to shake.

Something Oliver did as while he might be a jerk at times, he wasn't going to be rude to the offer of a handshake. Some of what his parents tried to get through to him did manage to stick after all. "Nice to meet you." Was all he would say.

Ted motioned for him to follow and as the two walked into the gym the thugs wanted, Oliver realized that this was actually in fact the man's gym itself. Ted also made a quick call to a police station for them to come pick up a few thugs near his gym. "By the way, if you don't mind my asking. Just who are you? And don't worry, being a former vigilante like you I'm not about to betray any kind of secrets." As after all, it'd be likely that nobody would believe him anyway!

The tone in his voice showed Oliver that he was being sincere in what he was saying. And feeling that he could trust the man, he lowered his face mask and as well as his hood. "Huh, well I sure as Hell wasn't expecting that." Was the shocked response he got, which only made him smile.

"Yeah, I doubt anybody would expect a former playboy punk like me to be doing this." This gained him a laugh from Ted.

What was supposed to be a few training tips for Oliver, turned into a full night of training exercises as the two got to know one another. And Oliver wondered many times through out the night if he could get the man back out on the streets with him. As it would be good to have someone helping him out, even if it was just back up on occasion. Even after he learned of the man's story he still told Ted that he had no intent on stopping what he was doing. Ted figured that maybe with his training, Oliver would manage to stay alive and maybe finally get some sense knocked into him somehow with out it being a possibly fatal thing.


	22. Its Always Best to Ask a Diggle When in Doubt

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea you see within this story.**

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It was dawn by the time Oliver got home and into his room from the training he did with Ted Grant and nicely enough the heavy exhaustion he was feeling was a welcomed thing. As he felt he might even get to sleep a good while cause of it. Luckily he wasn't too exhausted that he forgot to stash his gear back at the Foundry before coming home. Boy would that have been possibly awkward in trying to explain anything should anyone be awake when he finally made it in. He also had decided that today would be one of those days when he would take his medications and try and sleep his way through the effects. And as he swallowed them down his throat with some water, he reflected on the advice he got from Grant as he left the gym about how he shouldn't easily reveal his secret to others. Something that in hindsight was actually a rather damn good point too.

But for Oliver, he just felt he could truly trust the man and he likely felt that perhaps his own mental faculties were a bit more worn out then what he thought they were for easily making that mistake. He didn't think Grant would betray him though from the impression he got from the guy so that was a plus at least. He was also glad he got the man to keep training him as he knew the lessons would be the key to helping him stay alive. And as soon as he fell on to his bed, he was out before he even realized it.

Unknown to him however was the fact that Moira hadn't slept much that night and had been in the living room when he came in. And when he didn't notice her, she chalked it up to how tired he looked and decided to leave things be for now. Though seeing him like this made her honestly hope he wasn't out doing stupid things that could likely make things worse for himself. And with that thought in mind, she felt it was best she did make a certain call to ensure her son finally got the help he needed. Even thoough she knew it was not something he was going to be happy about. But damnit, she wanted her son back! Not this person he'd become! Course if she knew he was at least somewhat trying to be better, perhaps she wouldn't even consider this option at all. Got to love when son and mother don't communicate that much!

**Way later in the day...**

By the time Oliver woke up, it was around close to 5:00 PM and his stomach was roaring its hunger at him. Though he had to say that he was happy with how much sleep he managed to get and the lack of nightmares he had. He considered that maybe it could be a good idea to get that exhausted again and take his meds when he felt like that. But also considered it wouldn't be an entirely smart thing in the end. As he could somehow wind up a bit dependent on that solution. Though the one thing that bugged him was the bad feeling he was having. And if experience had taught him anything, it was best to stay on guard for anything that could be the cause of it.

He also felt it was high time he reached out to John Diggle since he felt that maybe the man could help him out somehow with his issues. Such as possibly knowing a shrink he might be able to talk with. As it was high time he started to be less in denial about his problems and dealt with them. So with that thought in mind, he made a call to Andy Diggle to see if he might know where his brother is at.

" _Hello? Andy Diggle, Master Bodyguard at your service!_ " The former playboy had to chuckle at that.

"Heh, good one there man."

" _Uhh thanks?_ " Was the uncertain reply.

"Anytime."

He got what sounded like an annoyed sigh after that. " _Alright look, I'm not entirely sure who this is. So if you don't mind, could we cut the crap and you tell me who you are already?_ "

Oliver shook his head to wake up a bit more so that he could actually talk. "Sorry Mr. Diggle, my fault. I'm just waking up. This is Oliver Queen."

" _Oh! Is everything alright with your sister Mr. Queen?_ "

Oliver had to appreciate how quickly the man went to being serious after he learned who he was talking with. "Oh yeah, she's alright for now. Hasn't been a pain recently thankfully. But uhh.. I was calling to ask if you knew where your brother was? I'd like to talk to him about something I need help with and I think he'd be the best to ask."

" _Oh you can find him here with me at Big Belly Burger._ " Andy told him, and the man had to admit he was a bit curious about why the Queen kid would be wanting to talk to his brother. But figured it wasn't his place yet. The very few times he'd been around the kid, he could see the haunted and weary look in his eyes and it was something his brother had at times. Heck, who knows, maybe these two could bond over their experiences? Lord knows he couldn't relate that well and maybe, just maybe this guy could somewhat at least.

The Queen Scion breathed a sigh of relief at what he heard. "Great, thanks man. How much longer will you two be there?"

" _At least for another hour unless something involving your sister happens._ " Though the older man likely doubted anything would happen until then.

"I'll be there soon then. And Mr. Diggle? Thanks again."

" _Anytime!_ "

After hanging up, Oliver quickly got ready and made his way downstairs. He was almost to the door when he heard his mother's voice. "And just where do you think you're going?" The tone in her voice told him she wasn't in the mood for any games. So he figured he'd be at least somewhat honest with her.

"Oh, I just have someone I got to meet with. Nothing to worry about." He said as he turned towards her.

Unfortunately for him however, it seemed that wasn't going to be enough for Moira. "Its not some foolish young girl is it?"

He probably would have felt offended by that, but considering how he used to be he really couldn't be offended. "Of course not! I'm just meeting the Diggles is all."

Moira just looked at him with her arms crossed, but got the sense her son was telling the truth. Though she would have preferred having a few words with him before he left but since he seemed in a hurry she figured there could be time for it later. Then again, it never hurts to start something now and then touch back on it later. "Oliver, before you go I would like to talk to you about something."

He sighed at that, hoping his answer would have let him be able to just get on with what he wanted to do. But no such luck there! "Alright... What is it mom?" He asked her warily.

"Ever since you've come home, you've been so different and you don't seem to be getting any better." Really? She wants to talk about that? Honestly, what does she expect to happen? That he'll suddenly be better as quick as possible? If she honestly expected that to happen, she was most definitely living in a fantasy world.

"Well mom, what do you expect? I went through Hell when I was gone. You can't just expect me to get better right off the bat." He told her in what he felt was a reasonable way.

"Sure I can, I'm a mother and as a mother its expected that we have unreasonable expectations." That right there alone made him roll his eyes. Something that did not amuse his mom at all.

"Do NOT roll your eyes at me young man!"

"Well when you say something like that, how else do you expect me to react!?" Honestly, his mom just needed to back off a whole lot and let him handle it like he's been doing.

She huffed at her son's attitude. Which made her think that with an attitude like that, its no wonder he's not in a better position. "I at least expect you to react with with some respect Oliver! And to start being more pro-active with your health by taking what the doctor prescribed you!"

Here Oliver felt more annoyed now at how pushy his mom was being. "I am taking them thank you very much. Just not all the time as I seriously don't like how they make me feel."

Moira sensed an opening here despite her son's line of attempted reasoning with her. "A small price to pay in order for you to get better." Which to her it made perfect sense.

"A price I don't WANT to pay mother. And I would appreciate it if you would respect how I feel about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to get too." His voice firm but laced with a bit of annoyance too.

To say that his mom wasn't unhappy could likely be an understatement due to the glare she was leveling at him. She was even feeling much better about the call she planned to make now as well due to how much of a stubborn ass her son was being. And while he would absolutely hate it, he would in the end come to see it was for the best. At least that's what she kept trying to tell herself anyway.

**A short time later at Big Belly Burger...**

The Diggle men were in fine spirits as they continued to enjoy the friendly atmosphere of the restaurant where Andy's wife Carly worked. Though the two were awfully damned curious about what Oliver Queen needed to talk to John about. Course both had some idea of what it could be and even had discussed it. But eventually moved on to more lighter topics like AJ's soccer practices for example. The restaurant's doors opening made the two look up. "And there's the man of the hour!" Andy called out jokingly.

His voice caused Oliver to look their way and he immediately headed over to them. "Sorry if I'm late, my mother and traffic were involved." He muttered to them as he grabbed a nearby chair to join them at their table.

John simply looked at him as Andy munched down on some fries. "No worries at all Mr. Queen." The former soldier responded.

After that things fell into an awkward silence until Andy decided to speak up. "Alright, I'm gonna go... Elsewhere and let you two talk privately." Oliver nodded with a grateful smile on his face at the man. John just simply nodded his understanding.

"So you wanted to speak with me Mr. Queen?"

Oliver nodded at him. "Uh.. Yeah, I did. I feel as a former soldier you would likely know where I'm coming from with this. But since I've been back things have just felt so different. Its been hard to re-adjust and nobody seems to get it and just leave me be." He probably wouldn't have ever been this open but he had seriously needed to get it off his chest and actually doing so actually felt pretty good too surprisingly enough.

John looked at him in sympathy, knowing exactly what the younger man is going through. The experiences may be different then his, but the feelings he had were very likely the same as most returning soldiers felt. "The best way I can think of in your situation, or even mine for example is that home is a battlefield. You were gone, you changed while you were gone and now you're home. Home where everybody still see's you as who you used to be. A you that you likely left behind a long time ago in order to do what you had too in order to survive. Its difficult for them and equally just as difficult for you."

Hearing all that from the older man made Oliver realize he needed to hear exactly that. As it just helped him to put so much into perspective. "So... How do I fix this with my family and friends? How do I get them to see that I've changed? How do I get them to just let me be so that I can deal in my own way and to just give me time before I can open up?" He hoped the man had answers as he was in serious need of them.

John could see the desperation in the young man's eyes and the sympathy in him grew even more. "Just talk with them is all you can do. Tell them that you need to be given time in order to heal and deal with all that you went through. That pressuring you is not going to help you at all." Oliver nodded at that, and hoped it could work but something told him it wouldn't be that easy.

The Queen scion breathed outward before making a response. "Somehow... I really doubt it would be that easy to get them to agree to it. We Queens are a stubborn bunch unfortunately." Though his joke was meant to be funny, it sounded anything but with how he was speaking.

The army man could see how that might be a problem too and considered what the younger man could do. "Well, you're just gonna have to find a way to really drill it into their heads then that this is the best way to go forward." Oliver had to agree with that statement.

"Thank you for this Mr. Diggle, I appreciate it more then I could ever say." He said seriously.

"Call me John, its only fair man. And anytime you need someone to talk with and be able to relate to n some level. I'm willing."

Oliver felt pretty grateful for that and realized he'd just possibly made a friend out of this man. "I truly appreciate that John. And call me Oliver."

The two would continue to talk for a bit longer yet and at one point John even gave him the number to a therapist who specialized in helping those who had been through a serious trauma. Though mostly he helped out returned soldiers, he still occasionally helped out others too from time to time. Another thing the former playboy was grateful for from the man. Heck, he'd even been planning to ask him if he knew anyone and this proved to be a bit of luck for him. And as he made his way home he decided to call the therapist as he felt he had nothing to lose and quite possibly everything to gain.


	23. Locked Up! (And They Won't Let Me Out!)

**Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. Now... Let's roll on! And yes, I may have been inspired by an Akon song for this chapter's title. But shh.. Don't tell anyone!**

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It was the day after Oliver had reached out to John Diggle for help concerning his life and today would be the day Moira would make her move to do what she felt was best for her son as he continually refused to do anything about it. She hated the idea of locking her son up in an institution, but she felt she had no other choice. And currently she and two special guests were in the living room waiting on Oliver to return from some errand he had to run. Whatever that could possibly be she had no idea of however. Thea was not happy when she realized why their special guests were there and had yet to come out of her room since then. Yeah she may still be angry as hell at her big brother, but even she didn't want him locked up!

Randomly looking out a window proved to be a stroke of luck for her as she saw her brother arriving. Something that got her out of her room and down to the front doors as quickly as she could so that she could warn him. Of course he likely already had some warning as it is thanks to the white eyesore in their driveway. By the time she got to the doors he was already making his way inside with a very unhappy expression on his face and talking to someone on his phone about what he saw. She quickly hugged him as tears started to fall down her face. He looked down at her and realized she had a good idea of what was likely about to happen. "I'll speak to you as soon as I'm able too then doctor." And with that he hung up the phone as he had a quick idea in his head.

Hugging his sister tightly for a moment or two as the bad feeling he still had just intensified. He was worried how his little sister was going to handle this latest mess their mother started. He damn well had no intention of going anywhere though and would fight it too. His mom's best intentions be damned! "Speedy, its gonna be okay. You hear me? Its gonna be okay." His words were soft but laced with sincerity as he tried to re-assure her.

The young girl sniffled a bit at the thought of him being locked up. She wanted him to get better but she didn't want this! "I sure hope so Ollie!"

"Thea, I want you to do me a favor alright? I want you to take my phone for me and call the number listed under Dr. Veller and keep him informed alright?" He had gotten down to one knee to talk to her about this plan of his.

"And don't tell mom right?"

"Exactly that!" Glad to see that she had caught on rather quickly.

He hugged her again before finally walking off to confront his mom. And as he did so, he quickly took notice of the two rather huge men in white that were with her in the living room. Feeling pretty grateful for all the training he'd gotten from Slade and Shado as he knew he could very easily take them down. "Mom! What the hell are you doing!?" He asked her angrily.

Moira regarded her son with a look on her face clearly left the message that she was not to be trifled with. Well too bad for her, he wasn't about to leave things be. "This is for your own good Oliver. You've done nothing to help yourself and I can not sit idly by anymore as you fall deeper into your own personal Hell." She was firm in her words and forcing herself to keep from crying at what she was having to do.

The very angry glare she was getting from her son was unpleasant to say the least. "Well mom, sometimes you have to let things be instead of just pushing. But you clearly don't get that concept. Yes, I barely eat. Yes, I can hardly sleep. And yes, I can barely write at all with how things are now. But I am dealing with it as best I can and I NEED YOU TO LEAVE IT BE!" He roared out, frightening the woman a bit and causing the two men to twitch a little as if ready to make a move any minute now.

"I'm aware I don't talk about my experiences, how can I when its all still pretty much fresh for me? I have no desire to want to re-live any of it again this soon and yet you don't seem to get that from the way I act when I'm questioned. Things are NOT going to go back to how they used to be and its time you accepted that mom." Ohh how she wanted to slap him now for that last comment. She knew damn well things could never truly go back to how they were thank you very much!

Moira just shook her head at him a bit sadly. "Well surely you must have had some positive experiences right? You could always talk about those. It could help you in getting to open up!" Oliver just had to scoff at that idea. Why couldn't his mother just leave things be!?

He turned his head to look at the two men still with them. "Gentlemen, I'm afraid you've been called out here for nothing. I'm sure we can come to an agreement of some kind but for now, please leave." He hoped the polite route would work here.

Unfortunately though they didn't move at all. The brunette one however spoke up. "Sorry sir, but we are here under Mrs. Queen's say so and will only leave when she says."

 _Great, just my luck._  He groused to himself.

He turned his attention back to his mother. "Would it help if I told you that the Diggles got me into contact with a therapist who specializes in cases like mine?"

Moira considered it for a moment. "Perhaps, but I imagine he would be willing to visit you during your stay with these gentlemen." If what he said was true, she was a bit happy but it still wasn't enough and she couldn't take the risk of allowing her son to fall deeper into his Hell. At least with the support he'd get, he'd be well on his way to being better.

"Gentlemen, you may take him." It pained her to say that and she noticed the shocked and very unhappy expression on her son's face and tried to remain strong for the time being. She could always cry later when no one else was about to see her do so in the comfort of her own room.

Her son pointed a finger at her. "This is absurd mom! If you do this, I swear it will be a long while before I can forgive you!" She flinched at the angry tone he was giving her, but it was for the best that this happened.

The two men advanced on him and Oliver went on the offensive. Performing a low leg sweep that Shado had taught him and causing one man to fall down. He then speared the next one right onto the coffee table. He was pretty certain it was going to be awhile before the guy could get up again. Getting up, he went back to the other man and hit him hard enough to knock him out. Once that was done, he rose up to his full height and barely even looked winded. Much to the astonishment of his mother and as well as Thea who had been watching the entire thing. "Oliver! How could you!?" Their mom cried out.

"I did what I had too mom. I did what I had too." Was his cold response.

And as he turned to walk away and leave the house for a good while until he could find a way to convince his mom to not do this stupid idea. He felt something hit him in the shoulder. Confusedly pulling the dart out and looking at it. He then noticed that there was another man in white and he had a tranq gun aimed at him. The stunned disbelief was easily seen on his face as he held the dart. And before he could do anything else, he fell to the ground a bit hard as he was now out cold.

Thea was crying even more so now over this as she tried her best to tell the guy her brother wanted to call what was going on. Little did she know unfortunately that it'd be around the end of June before her brother would be a free man once more.

**Three Days Later...**

Oliver awoke with a loud pain filled groan that had his cloudy mind starting to get worried over. Even if the feeling was taking a bit to fully take effect thanks to the cloudyness he was experiencing. As he sat up and stretched a bit, he realized that his messed up arm was immobile due to being placed in a cast and being put in a special holding bag to keep it in place.  _The Hell? I know I couldn't have done this._  He worriedly and confusedly thought to himself.

As the cloudyness in his mind began to fade, Oliver started to look around and realized he was in some kind of white filled room. It was then that the door opened and a man in a white coat came in. "Ah! I see you are awake then." He said with a smile on his face.

The Queen scion just looked at him, wondering who in the Hell this guy was. "Where the Hell am I and what's up with my arm?" He asked gruffly and wondering if he should feel violated now.

The gruffness didn't seem to bother the man however. "You Mr. Queen are now a resident of the Miles Penderton Psychiatric Ward. Our goal is to help make you a better man Mr. Queen. As for your arm, your mother insisted that surgery be done on your shoulder in addition to having you placed here on her say so rather than yours."

If you think our fair vigilante is now more shocked then he's ever been in his life. Even when he was thought dead, you would be right. "Is... Is that even legal!?"

The man nodded at him. "Oh yes, one can be involuntarily placed here by a family member if they feel the need is very serious. And your mother definitely thought so.

Oliver just stood there, too shocked to move. "So me saying I'm fine and that I was working on things wouldn't help me any?"

"Well we have been in contact with a Dr. Veller once he somehow managed to find out where you were sent off too. So we've come to an agreement that he will be here to help you in your journey to a full recovery from your trauma alongside our own doctors. So basically to sum it all up, you will not be leaving anytime soon Mr. Queen."

The man decided it was then best to leave their new resident alone for a bit to process what he'd been told. "I will visit you in again in a few hours once you've had time to process everything Mr. Queen." And then he let himself out.

Our fair vigilante could only stand there in shock and gaping like a fish as he tried to think of something to say. Though there was waves of swearing going off in his head, but they couldn't quite seem to come out of his mouth. D _amn it all to Hell!_

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**Author's Notes: You know, I never even intended to go this route. But as some have mentioned, along with an idea someone gave me for him being in a place like this, he does need to get some help in order to possibly move on. I was told he could be involuntarily placed in something like this, though whether or not I went too far in having his shoulder operated on is something for debate. I even had something else entirely different in mind as to how he was finally going to do the surgery. But then this happened.**


	24. So I'm Locked Up

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea you see within this story. Now, let's roll on! Also, this is set in early April. Keep in mind I've never been in therapy before and all I really know on the process is what I've seen on shows and the like.**

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It had taken roughly about a week before Oliver finally got past most of the rage he was feeling at having been locked up in this place against his will. His stubbornness wasn't helping things much either, but apart of him had been waiting Veller to show up as he was the only one he really even wanted to talk with anyway. And finally, on a Saturday morning he came to the office of one of the therapists who worked at the facility he's currently in named Anna. She, along with Veller were waiting on him and at first he wasn't wanting to say much at all. Mostly again due to the rage he still felt and the stubbornness. But something just boiled up inside of him after Veller finally asked if there was anything he wanted to get off his chest. And for whatever reason that question just made the boiling in him explode and he went on a near hour long rant about various things.

Such as the utter crap his mom pulled on him by putting him here, his sister's idiotic drug use, Tommy's stupidity, how Slade was an asshole 80 percent of the time he was around the man, why boats suck, why the island could suck at times, why Hong Kong sucked even more, the reasons for why apples are evil, and who the bigger douche bag was between Slade Wilson, Anthony Ivo, Malcolm Merlyn, Amanda Waller, and Detective Lance. He only really had included Lance in that due to how hostile the man could get when it came to him dating his oldest daughter back before the island. All in all, by the time he was done he honestly had felt a lot better after getting all that off his chest. The rant had made the two therapists look at one another for a moment as if to decide how they were going to handle it next.

The facility based therapist was the first to ask the next question after she and Veller came to some sort of silent agreement. "Surely Mr. Queen you understand why your mother felt she did what was best for you correct?"

Oliver just stared at her for a few moments. "Yeah, more like she did what she felt was best for her own interests." Get him all better so he's not embarrassing the family name to newer heights is one of the things he sourly thinks of.

"Why do you feel that way?" Seriously? Does she not have a clue!?

"I feel that way cause its true. She's only doing this in an effort to get me all nice and better much faster on a timetable that works for her liking. So that way I'm not potentially being an embarrassing jackass out in public." Was his biting response.

It was her turn then to stare at him for a moment or two before saying anything. "I think deep down you know that's not true Mr. Queen. Any mother would want their child to be healed as best as possible." That maddeningly calm tone of hers is something he considers that he could probably grow to hate if he keeps hearing it.

He only huffed in response however to what she'd said. But her next question managed to catch him off guard a little. "You mentioned you felt your sister's drug use is idiotic. Why do you believe that? Does it perhaps remind you of your own ways before you were lost and presumed dead?"

That was something he didn't even need to think about to answer. Though he did so with shame in his tone. "Yeah it does remind me of how I was back then. I'm not proud of it and obviously I failed as a big brother to her if she's doing crap like that. I... I understand things must have been hard for her, I just wish she had chosen other ways to deal with it that would be safe." He couldn't even look the lady or Veller in the eyes anymore as he stared down at the floor in sadness and shame. Wishing things could have been very different when it comes to his sister and his own life as well.

The two therapists looked at one another again before doing anything else. "What does your mother say or do?" This came from a curious Veller.

Oliver didn't even look up as he answered. "Nothing on either one of those, I don't think she knows what she can do or say and if she's tried. Its obviously not worked out very well."

"What would you do if your sister was to die from her drug use?" This also came from Veller.

This time, Oliver did look up and into the man's eyes. "I would find the one who sold her the drugs and kill them. Maybe torture first to draw it out, then end him. No mercy for scum like that." The way he spoke with such coldness honestly made the two therapists feel a bit nervous. Oliver clearly hadn't considered that could make his stay there even longer. And if he had considered it, they thought he obviously didn't care.

Though Anna had to admit to herself she wouldn't mind a brother like that to watch out for her in such a way. "Is this why you haven't really talked of your experiences with your mother or sister? Or with your best friend Tommy Merlyn?" She felt it might be a good thing to move on for the time being and re-visit the subject of him being willing to go that far in regards to his sister at a later time.

Oliver only sighed at that. "Yeah, I honestly feel that they wouldn't be able to handle it. That maybe my sister would fall into the drugs more if she knew about any of what went on. And while I am not happy at all with my mom, the last thing I want to even see is her crying over what happened to me. Tommy... Tommy just wouldn't be able to get it at all. At the most, he'd probably think the best solutions for it all is a drink, a party, and a woman or two. And I don't need any of that cause its not gonna help me any. How could it? Hell, even as screwed up as I am now, even I realize those would only be short term ways to deal with my problems and then I'd be back to square one all over again." And he honestly wouldn't even know how to get Tommy to understand that.

After a few minutes of silence, Veller gave Oliver a few suggestions on how to handle things with his family and Tommy. Among those being possibly writing down things in a journal and allowing them to read what he's not exactly able to talk about just yet. He and Anna would take turns for the next hour discussing some of the things Oliver had previously ranted about. Though they felt that talk of the island or even Hong Kong would be best to hold off on for another time so as not to push too far with his very likely fragile psyche. Though they would learn during attempts to ask about Slade Wilson, Anthony Ivo, and Amanda Waller that those were topics best left for another time as well.

Later on in the day after getting out of the daze he was in after having talked quite a bit. Oliver would admit to himself that talking about his issues over boats and apples, along with talking about other stuff really did help. Of course he still had an irrational hate for apples that he doubted even this place was going to cure him of. He was grateful though that they hadn't touched on the even more serious topics just yet. But he knew that eventually they would, and he hoped he could handle it.


	25. Musings

**Disclaimer: And here we are with the 25th chapter of this here story! Woo-hoo! As always, I own nothing but the idea you see within this story. I don't know if lyrics aren't allowed to be used on here like it is on FF.net, so until I look into that, there won't be any shown here.**

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_**The day I arrived on Lian Yu is the day Playboy Ollie Queen died and in his place was born a new man. A new man that was skilled, determined, and actually gave more of a damn about people and things then his previous self ever did. And now, just about 2 and a half years later I am back amongst family. Or was until dear ol' mom locked me up in this psychiatric ward anyways...** _

The days and nights for Oliver Queen had pretty much all blurred together for him since after he had awakened in this place he'd been forced to stay in in order to get help with his issues. And while he couldn't hate his mom for doing it, he still had quite a lot of anger in him towards her for putting him in here instead of trusting him to handle it on his own. But he did have to admit, being here was helping him out immensely. Hell, he was even learning to write left handed since he couldn't make use of his right hand just yet. He'd even finally gotten used to the meds he had to take and didn't feel as useless anymore by them. Which was pretty nice.

He was even allowed to keep a journal and a pen in his room to keep him occupied. The journal allowed him to write down a lot of things and in its own way, was also helping him work out issues he had and still wasn't quite ready to talk about with the doctors just yet. The rather brutal and draining conversation he'd had recently about Shado was among those issues he wrote about. He hadn't been able to deal with the emotional fall out after he spoke of what happened. A fall out that led to tears and then pretty much being knocked out due to the raging he was doing as he pretty much blamed himself for her death. This journal was something to be immensely thankful for. To be honest, he had pretty much forgotten he'd mentioned her name to his mom. Naturally she hadn't forgotten at all about it. He also had a feeling that Veller and Anna were telling his mom things too, likely on her orders. Whatever though, if it helps get her off his ass, then he's all for it.

_**My father was a good man, but one who ultimately also had his own faults. I honestly feel if he and my mother had done more to keep me on a better path, I wouldn't have gone down the road I did. But they didn't, and because of that, Sara is gone and that guilt, along with the guilt of so much else will be with me for a long time to come. This place helps me with that, so its at least a start.** _

The rattling of keys opening his door stopped him from writing more, which was okay as he was still working out the kinks in using his left hand to write. The door opened to reveal an orderly he'd become a bit familiar with during his time here. The guy was rather easy to get along with too. Which was a whole lot better then being a huge jerk in his view. "Its that time again I suppose?" Oliver asked, as it always seemed like this was always around one of the times when he got to visit the head shrinkers through out certain days.

The man nodded at him. "You bet man, so come on." He gestured grandly towards the hallway, something that made Oliver smile a little at the man's antics.

As he made his way out, he once again considered that he could easily take out the guy. Even with his shoulder being like it is and the effects from the meds that could still leave him feeling not at a 100 percent on occasion.  _Yeah... With the training I have, I could get out of here if I wanted too. But several things keep me from that. My shouder, the meds, and the fact I'd likely have no where safe to go too. Waller is seriously out for a whole lot of reasons, and no way in Hell would any of the Lances likely consider it. Hell, Sara's father would be just as likely to haul me back here faster than I could blink. I've got no patience for the time being in getting Tommy to understand the seriousness of it all, the Diggles and Grant are out as neither of them need that sort of crap on them to deal with. And I can't possibly ask Shrieve to do it as it'd likely get him in a lot of trouble. Plus, in the long run I'd be screwing myself over anyway if I busted out. And who knows how long I'd be stuck in here if and when they managed to capture me._

Suffice it to say, the Queen Scion had given escaping quite a lot of thought. But in the end would always come to the conclusion that his best bet was just to remain where he was. As after all, why make things potentially worse on himself? Though he was glad his mom hadn't gone further and ordered for his face and head to be shaved. For whatever reason, the growth in those areas were a comfort to him. And he figured he'd see what the docs would say about that particular thing if he managed to get around to it. As no telling what would happen in this session.

As his escort busied himself with the task of getting his charge to where he needed to be. Oliver took in his surroundings as he was prone to do. And one of the things he noticed and felt somewhat annoyed by was that Willie was out and about. Wilie for whatever reason was the kind of guy who reminded him an awful lot of Adam Sandler. Who Oliver had never actually cared for, which was one of the few things he and Tommy had different views on. Tommy found the guy to be outright hilarious, And Oliver just didn't at all. Which had made movie nights somewhat difficult back in the day if it happened to be Tommy choosing the films. Hell Willie even sounded like Adam Sandler much to his annoyance.

 _This guy is one reason I'll be glad to be out of here. Whenever the Hell that is. At least there's no apples around. Wonder if dear old mom had something to do with that?_  Hell, knowing her she probably did have something to do with it.

Course she probably could have used that to her advantage and he could have wound up getting into serious trouble in some way after having a rage fit over the damn things. But he was at least grateful she hadn't thought of that and hoped she never would either. "Hey Rich Man!" The sound of Willie's voice made Oliver groan.

 _Of course he just had to see me!_ Oliver looked in his direction with a fake smile plastered on his face.

"Can't stop and talk buddy, I got to go get my head shrunk!" Whether or not his enthusiasm was real was known only by him. And even he had a hard time telling if it was legit or not.

"Aww you're no fun!" Oliver could only sigh as he walked on, hoping his escort would walk just a bit faster to get him out of here.

"Yeah, that's me. Mr. No Fun!" Oliver called over his shoulder as he kept on going. As he finally left the area, he heard Willie shout out that he was going to do what it took to get him to lighten up and have some fun. Oliver scoffed and rolled his eyes, though he could hear his escort chuckling.

After several more minutes of walking, the two finally arrived at a familiar looking door. The orderly simply stood near it as he usually did and Oliver just went right on in. One of the first things he noticed is that it was just Anna in the room today, another thing he noticed was music playing. Which was a little unusual considering music never really played in the room. Anna caught saw of him and gave a nod in his direction. "I'll be with you in a few Mr. Queen." And then went back to tidying things up.

 _Sheesh, looks like a mini war zone in here. Guess things must have went bad recently. Guess that's why she's got music playing._  He considered to himself as he sat down on the couch he'd become rather familiar with in his time there.

"Need any help?" Anna looked at him again, and surprise seemed evident in her features too.

"Oh no, I'm fine Mr. Queen. But thank you for offering!" He figured that must have been the last thing she was expecting from him. But given what seemed to have happened before he got there, he supposed he couldn't blame her at the moment.

As he sat there and waited for her to finish, a new song came on the radio and for whatever reason he couldn't figure out at the moment. It was washing over him in a way that was pleasant. As the lyrics continued, he closed his eyes and swayed his head to the music. And for the first time in a good while, he was feeling truly relaxed. He didn't know what it was he was listening too but he definitely intended to find out. Unknown to him however, Anna had finished what she was doing and had been watching the reaction he was having to the song with a smile on her face. The look she saw on his face was unlike anything she'd seen from him so far and felt it was a pity Dr. Veller wasn't here to witness it. But at least he would get to see the recording of it when she showed him and Mrs. Queen it later on.

When the song ended, Oliver let out a breath as he opened his eyes and saw that the other person in the room with him was staring at him with a smile on her face. And he honestly felt a little embarrassed at being caught like that. "Erm... Sorry."

"Oh don't be! Your reaction to that song was honestly amazing in my view. I don't think I've ever seen someone be so captivated like you were by Dobie Grey." She told him pleasantly as she thought of an experiment she could try in a future session with certain kinds of music to see how he'd react.

 _Dobie Grey? I'll have to definitely remember that name..._  A new goal he now had in mind was to get himself some of the man's music once he got out. Especially if it had that song included.

"Thank you for telling me that Doc, I appreciate it." His words got him a smile from the woman.

"Anytime Mr. Queen, anytime!" And with that, the two would wind up discussing music like Dobie's and the effects music could have on a person for at least 30 minutes before getting down to more personal and serious things.

The talk as usual would leave him a bit drained, but the song he'd heard still remained with him as he fell asleep later on in his room.  _The old me would never have appreciated that sort of thing, which is just one more reason why Ollie Queen is no longer and someone new is in his place now._ He thought to himself before finally falling asleep for however long it would last.

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**Author's Notes: I hope everyone will have enjoyed this and apologies on the delay in getting it out! And many thanks to kindleflame5 for her (or his?) help in this portion of the story! I'm not sure if I'll do more with the Willie character, but who knows. Things do change. In case anyone wondering about the song in question he was hearing, it was Drift Away. Which is a fantastic song! And that Fight Club promo is great! Up next, the struggles of Thea as she deals with her brother being locked up. R and R!**


	26. The Struggles of Thea

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. And now... Let's roll on!**

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Life for Thea since her brother's trip to the ward hadn't exactly been pleasant. His being locked up had made it hard for her to cope with the fact he was in there when he shouldn't be. Even though deep down inside her, the logical side of her argued that this was for the best. But she didn't want to listen to it damnit! She needed her big brother there with her and giving her hugs, and maybe giving her crap about her drug use from time to time. Her little trip down into Shane's bed while high off her rocker wasn't exactly something she was proud of either. He had yet to go around boasting about the fact he finally got her in bed however, something she was thankful for her. But she did wish though that she had someone to confide in about this. Just so long as it didn't reach Ollie anyway, no telling what he'd be liable to do. And she really didn't need any potential embarrassment he might cause her. Her mother dropping the bomb on her that she was now well aware of her drug and alcohol use was another thing she didn't need.

She had a feeling her mom somehow found out from Ollie. But considering the likelyhood of him being willing to say anything to their mother since she was the cause of his being locked up seemed a bit far fetched to her. The fact her own mother of all people threatened to send her to re-hab if she didn't shape up was a punch to the gut and had sent her out to the back steps of her home in tears as she tried to deal with that issue on top of everything else. Why the hell her mother had to resort to this instead of putting her foot down she didn't know. Sure, she'd not like it but damn. Better that then that threat! She also honestly hoped Shane had used protection while the two of them had been pretty high. He continually claimed he did and the wrapping paper from a condom she later found seemed to indicate he was telling the truth. The sounds of foot steps unfortunately however ended her time alone and it wasn't something she was entirely happy about. And made it known.

"Oh I can tell, but its obvious you need a shoulder to lean on for awhile kid." The unknown voice startled her quite a bit and she looked up to see a rather good looking and very obvious security guard looking down at her with what looked like a hint of concern on his face.

"W-who who are you!?" She asked in alarm and rising to get up and away from this unknown guy. As by now she knew all of the security detail her family employed. Though for some reason, this guy did look slightly familiar...

The man put up his hands in a defensive position to show he meant no harm. "Whoa! I mean no harm Miss Queen, I'm Andy Diggle and that walking mass of muscle behind me is my brother John." He gave her a smile, hoping it would help calm her down.

She gave a look behind the man to see who he was talking too. And holy crap, he is a bit on the muscly side! "Okay... So what can I help you two with?" She may be a mess, but the least she could do is be polite to virtual strangers. Especially when you have no idea how they might otherwise react to you if you aren't being polite.

"Well its more like how we can help you instead." Andy told her with that smile still present.

Thea was a bit confused now by that, and she highly doubted they were going to offer to get her some drugs or alcohol. Although, maybe they knew someone who could bust her brother out of the ward? A question she wound up asking even though she knew it'd be an unlikely thing and it got laughs from the two men in response. Which only confirmed her previous thought. "Sadly we can't do that Miss Queen, but what we can do is provide a shoulder to lean on as support for when you need someone to talk too." She could see the John guy nod along to his brother's words.

She wondered though just why the Hell these two would be willing to do that when its not like they were even required to do that. Especially if they weren't even paid to do it!

"You two actually being serious? Cause its not like you guys are being paid for doing it." She pointed out reasonably.

John only scoffed at that as he sat down next to her, making the young girl look at him a bit worriedly. "We may not be getting paid for it kid, but we're doing it anyway. Besides, your brother asked us awhile back to watch out for you if anything ever happened to him." Which was only somewhat true to a certain extent since he had gotten the two of them to tail her in an effort to keep her from doing some real dumb crap.

Even though they aren't always able to keep her from doing it, but the point was that they were making an effort. Andy nodded at his brother's words. "Just think of us as the two uncles you never knew you wanted." Thea had to smile at Andy's words, which surprisingly enough despite not knowing either man made her feel a little happier that they were willing to do this. Her brother being behind it didn't even bother her at the moment, as she quickly realized it was his way of looking out for her.

She was going to have to do something special for him once he got out of the ward for giving so much of a damn. Sure she should be angry, but right now she couldn't bring herself to be. Not when she was already dealing with so much as it is. "Uncles huh?" She asked while looking at each of them in turn.

Andy smiled at her. "Yup! Probably be embarrassing too." Thea smiled at that thought.

She figured these two would be uncles would be just as good as anyone else to confide in. Though she hoped they wouldn't say anything to Ollie about it. "So you guys won't mind if I get a few things off my chest then?"

Despite his reservations about this whole thing, John was easily seeing that this girl needed a shoulder to lean on. Which for once, this to him was about the only time so far he'd not had any complaints about babysitting a spoiled rich kid. Having gotten to know Oliver some before he was locked up had already greatly shown him the girl's brother was someone he could likely be damn good friends with. Andy was just glad he went with this plan, as having witnessed how the girl was doing lately and his being a father. He knew someone needed to do something and soon. And if it wasn't going to be the girl's own mother, he and his brother might as well try their hand a bit in helping out.

John was the next who spoke up, letting Thea know that they wouldn't mind at all if she vented to them. As she obviously needed to do it, and besides, what else was an uncle for? Something that managed to get him a watery smile from the girl and he could easily see the appreciation in her eyes. Finally seeing that the two were pretty darn serious about what they were saying, Thea started to vent about everything she was feeling weighed down by. Starting with her mother's actions against her brother, something she couldn't forgive the older woman for. "I HATE that she did that to him, what kind of mother would do that to their own child? And now she wants to do something similar with me instead of dealing with it herself head on. I swear she gets an award for failed mother of the year." The venting had started to cause tears to come down her face and Andy had wrapped an arm around her. A gesture she leaned into and appreciated a lot.

John couldn't really think of anything to say just yet, as this was entirely new territory for him. But he had a feeling his brother might considering he was a parent himself. He wanted to kick himself though for not having anything to say and hoped the young girl wouldn't hold it against him. He figured he'd deal with that when and if the time came. Andy sighed as he thought for a moment or two on what to say. "When you think about it Thea, this is all pretty much new territory for your mother. Hell it would be for anybody in a situation like this. She was likely never in a situation like this when she was growing up and she's bound to do things you or anyone else doesn't agree with."

John nodded along to that, and Thea, despite herself, had to admit the man likely had a good point. "As for the situation with you, you could look at it as her trying to keep you from going down a very bad path. One somewhat similar to the one your brother was on and likely headed towards even more unpleasant waters before that island. So you've got to decide which is more important, your need to escape reality? Or your health?" Andy's words were definitely getting the girl to seriously consider things now. But she was in some bad habits these days and she knew it wasn't going to be that easy to get rid of them. And said as much.

"Then we'll be around to help beat back those habits kid. That is, if you want us too." Thea definitely appreciated the other Diggle's words. Though she was getting slightly annoyed with being called kid, but kept her mouth shut for the time being.

"Yeah, I think I'd like that actually. I could use any support I can get." Laurel and Tommy were out for obvious reasons, one of those being them not even knowing what happened to Ollie. Her friends were so out too for that matter. As they'd likely be more interested in talking her out of not doing stupid crap.

Thea suddenly thought of her Shane situation then. "So can I talk to you two about boys?"

She looked in John's direction from her comfy spot at Andy's side to get his reaction. Which was kind of comical to her. "This isn't about to be some girly thing is it?" He asked her completely serious, which honestly made her laugh for what was likely the first time in days. Andy had to give the man a thumb's up for that.

She quickly reassured him it wasn't going to be anything like that. Which made the veteran sigh in relief. Something else she, along with Andy both found a bit comical. She then explained things about Shane, leading up to their mutual high and sleeping together while out of their minds. Talking about how she was worried if whether or not he really did use a condom. And that she wasn't entirely sure what she'd do if he went around school talking about it. John's suggestion of using military tactics to detain him and have a nice long talk got her all teary eyed again as she laughed a little at his dead serious suggestion. And even hugged him for it.

"I'm dead serious girl, I'll even call in a few army buddies and we'll make it a thing. One where he'll never brag about a girl again. Falsely or not." She hugged him even tighter for that.

"Thank you." She murmured softly, something that had him gazing down at her with a warm smile on his face. Which had Andy thinking that maybe their 'niece' could help thaw him out and bring back the far less serious John from before the army.

Silence, though a nice comfortable one surrounded them for several minutes. Unknowing that both Raisa and Moira had been observing things not too far off. Moira for her part, despite the jealousy she was feeling. Hoped that these two men her son had brought into their lives would be able to get through to her. Raisa just hoped that things would start to improve soon. A buzzing from Thea's phone interrupted the peaceful silence. Looking at it made her instantly alarmed, as it was pretty much a news text that pretty much just blew her mother's handling of placing Oliver in the ward in secrecy thing out of the water. "Oh my God... This is NOT good!"

Her mother definitely wasn't going to be happy at all as she rushed to her mother to show her what's on her phone as Raisa and the Diggle men looked on in alarm. Needless to say, Moira Queen was NOT happy and she was about to let the media know about it too.

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**Author's Notes: I realize her bonding with the Diggles may be a bit unlikely. But I figured getting perspectives from them would be far better then those closer to the situation. Took me a few hours to get this finished as my mom and I have been doing what we can to care for a sick dog of ours. Hope you all will have enjoyed this and that it was worth the wait! The cat's out of the bag on what's been up with Oliver! And the confrontations will prove very interesting! R and R!**


	27. Visits and Confrontations Part 1

**Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the general idea you see within this story. Now, let's roll on with the aftermath!**

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Life for Moira for the past few days had certainly been busy. As she'd been on quite the warpath ever since one news group from the media had revealed to everyone in the city that her son had been placed in a psychiatric ward to deal with the trauma of his time away. Star Bright News was certainly feeling the woman's fiery wrath and many of its employees were damned worried if whether or not they would still have a job by next week. Not even Walter had been able to slow the woman's path of war against the bunch. Naturally, while all this was going on, Oliver had been getting a few visits from various people after they learned of what happened. The Diggle men were the first to actually pay him a visit. While they were in the know about what happened to him, they weren't told where exactly he was.

That visit with them worked out favorably for Oliver as he'd gotten them to do a little a favor for him that he intended to chase after once he got out of the ward. Though he knew his mom was NOT going to be happy once he informed her of what he was doing. He also had a feeling Thea wouldn't be happy either, but he hoped she would at least get why he was doing it. While he had talked with the two men, he caught on to the fact they were leaving something out regarding Thea. But they told him it was best to leave it be until he got out. As the last thing he needed to deal with was more additional stress that could cause him to stay in the ward longer. Of course that tidbit gave him reason to worry but they did what they could to reassure him it wasn't truly bad.

After he found out how they learned of where he is, he had to admit he found it pretty funny the word got out about his stay at the ward. Sort of felt it was perhaps karma coming to bite his mom in the butt. That pretty much left a smile on his face for the rest of the day, and not even the mild scolding he got from his therapists after they learned why he was smiling could deter him. The ward itself was also facing scrutiny from Momma Queen over the information being leaked out. But many were not sure how it could have happened as everyone on staff knew not to say anything. Certain clauses that were in affect when they were hired pretty much saw to that. Certain staff members came up with theories that maybe somehow it was one of their residents that did it.

Though those theories weren't exactly taken seriously since a vast majority of them could have cared less about exposing Oliver's being there. Currently, Oliver was on his way to a large room where meetings with those on the outside were allowed to be done. He wasn't sure who wanted to see him and already had a list in mind of who he definitely didn't want to be visited by. Such as past flings, Detective Lance, crazy women with crazy ideas, Amanda Waller, Triad, anyone related to Fyers or Ivo, which with that last one was more or less paranoia talking right there. His mother was on that list too since he really didn't think that would be much of a pleasant conversation to have.

He hoped though that maybe it was Thea, but considering what the Diggles told him. He figured it'd be unlikely since she still had trouble dealing with him being locked up. And he certainly couldn't fault her for that, even though he missed her terribly. He definitely intended to give her a huge bear hug once he got out however. Which that thought was enough to make him smile. The sight of Tommy Merlyn waiting for him was enough though to turn the smile into surprise. He wondered how this was going to go since he knew his best friend was likely to think he should be out and about doing things like getting drunk, messing about with women, and other various things. Tommy looked up from his phone just in time to see Oliver heading his way with a surprised look on his face. "Ollie! My brother from another mother!" Was his enthusiastic greeting as he got up and went around the table to hug his best friend in life.

A hug Oliver returned and the two took their seats at the table Tommy had been at. Tommy didn't waste a second in getting down to business. Which was just him voicing his opinion that Oliver definitely shouldn't even be in a place like this. And that instead, he needed to be out and about having fun. Oliver wanted to roll his eyes but kept from doing so. "Yeah well, we have my mother to thank for that. And she's kinda not wrong about it."

Tommy looked at him incredulously for that one. "Dude, all you really needed was the comfort of a good woman or two and all would have been fine! You being here is no where near my definition of fine buddy. So yeah, with all due respect to your mom. She's definitely all kinds of wrong in putting you in here." Seriously, why couldn't his best bud see that!?

The Queen scion shook his head at that, as he knew quite well it wouldn't have been fine. But getting Tommy to understand that wouldn't be as easy. And he fully knew well what Tommy's definition of fine is too. "Tommy, like I said before, she's not all that entirely wrong about me being here. Much as I hate to admit it. You weren't around for a lot of things so you don't know the full extent of it. Me being here? Its for the best, and women, alcohol, drugs, and having a good ol' partyin' time is NOT going to help me at all in anyway. It would be just as likely to make things even worse."

His buddy shook his head in denial at that, not wanting to accept what his brother in life was saying. Oliver however spoke up again before he could say anything. I know you can't accept it Tommy, but you're going to have too. PTSD and Depression are some serious damn things. Not to mention the anger that just didn't want to go away. So do you really think I need to be around alcohol and the like that could make those issues potentially worse? Do you not even remember that night you picked me up from that bar? Hell its been crappy on my family and this is the safest bet in helping to ensure that kind of thing won't be happening much if at all anymore."

He could see that it was finally starting to get through to Tommy's head as his eyes had widened in shock at the realization of how bad things truly were. He'd been so damn focused on the usual and the occasional happenings with Laurel that he hadn't even realized how things really were for Oliver and his family. Hell the night Ollie mentioned was something he had kind of forgotten about actually. Things also weren't exactly back to being all that great with Laurel either, and he was trying his best to fix it. Not to mention the fact he still needed to tell his best friend about him and Laurel. But the timing hadn't been all that right, plus he was worried with how he would react.

"Geez man, I'm... I'm sorry. I honestly had no idea it was that bad. And I thought I had it bad after that time I got kidnapped in Hong Kong. Something dear old dad still hasn't gotten over and likes to remind me of it from time to time." He told Ollie with a shudder and with bitterness in his voice.

For Oliver, getting reminded of that little incident made him wince. Something that Tommy saw, but thought he was just wincing in sympathy for what had happened to him and its aftermath with his dad. Oliver figured that he might as well get this out in the open so that hopefully Tommy will have forgiven him for it by the time he's out of here. Plus, it being one less secret off his chest would help him out a little too. "Yeah, about that man... For the record I am sorry for Hong Kong."

Tommy just looked at him with a confused look on his face. Just wondering what the heck he meant by that. "What'cha mean by that one buddy?"

The Queen scion sucked in a breath, as if preparing himself for what he was about to do and the likely fall out it was going to cause. "Well, its like this... Your kidnapper? That was actually me."

"WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WAS YOU!?" Talk about a total mind job here! Poor Tommy was starting to feel confused and pretty damned angry now over this. Though he was also hoping Ollie was just joking. Even though its a horrible damn joke.

His outburst had startled quite a few of the ward residents who were also in the room too and Oliver noticed a few of the orderlies coming their way. But he shook his head at them as a way to tell them to stand down and thankfully enough, it seemed to work! A big yay as for as he was concerned. Though he could tell they were more then ready to move in if need be since they hadn't started to walk off just yet. Tommy was pretty much leaning over the chair now with an unhappy expression on his face while Oliver just continued to sit where he was.

He wasn't all that concerned if Tommy attacked him, as he could easily defend himself if need be. He sighed before speaking again. "Its what I mean Tommy, I did it. There was no other choice in the matter."

Tommy just looked at him in shock, wondering how the hell there couldn't be a choice! As there pretty much always was a choice! He even voiced a question over that and the response he got was definitely not something he liked. "Because man, if I hadn't of done that. You would have been killed by someone else in order to ensure I WASN'T found." Which honestly? Had been a nightmare that kept him up for a few days.

"Wha... What the hell did you get yourself into!?" The other man asked him incredulously.

Oliver shook his head and sighed once again. "It wasn't by choice, I can tell you that much for sure."

Tommy just shook his head at that bit of craziness while rubbing both sides of his head to deal with the news that he could have been killed if it wasn't for his best friend. He tried to say something, anything at all. But nothing would come out, and to the lack of surprise for Oliver. Tommy dropped his hands to his side with a slapping noise and stood where he was for several seconds before turning around and storming off. Unable to deal with it all.

It sucked, but Oliver could understand it. Willie chose then to walk up next to Oliver. "Well, that didn't go that well huh?" He hadn't heard much of anything from the two rich boys, but the way the other had stormed off. He got the idea that things really didn't go too well in the end.

Oliver didn't look at the man as he kept his eyes on the direction Tommy had gone off in. "Oh yeah." Was all he could say on that matter as he couldn't help but be in complete agreement with the guy.

It would be later that day when Oliver finally decided to share something at a recent sharing circle he'd been required to attend. Although he never actually said much until now. And afterwards he admitted to himself that it felt great to talk about even though he couldn't exactly say what got him to do it to begin with. Him passionately talking about archery for nearly 10 to 15 minutes would later get Moira to have a little talk with Thea about trying it for herself as a means of bonding time with her brother. Of course the girl would naturally have her doubts over that until an incident occurs and gets the two talking about it.

**Several days later...**

A few days had passed since the talk with Tommy, at least that's as far as Oliver could figure out anyway. And so far he hadn't heard from his brother in life, which he had figured he wouldn't anyway for awhile. But it still sucked regardless. In that time though he did get a visit from the good General Shrieve. The man had honestly surprised him by showing up, and he realized sometime after with a groan that if he of all people showed up, then Waller was likely not that far behind. Something that had gotten the army man to laugh a bit over. Shrieve wound up telling him that Waller had already known where he was long before the media had revealed it. Something that made Oliver groan again over that.

But he shouldn't have been surprised since that woman did seem to like being in the know. An assessment Shrieve had to agree on. The man also informed Oliver he still wanted him to come out to the base and get some training in and wished him a full recovery. The Queen scion told him he definitely would seek him out and do it once he was out and his shoulder wasn't going to be an issue. The General nodded his understanding of that, saluted him and then walked away after getting a salute from Oliver. Oliver had to admit that he felt even more respect for the older man since he willingly came to see him. And definitely looked forward to trying out the training. Something he probably should have been doing a long while ago.

But hindsight being what it is and all that. His next visit came in the surprising form of Laurel Lance. Who honestly had been the absolute last person he would have expected to come see him. Especially considering how things went between the two of them last time. But was at least grateful that it wasn't her father for various two sat in silence for several minutes as Laurel observed him and Oliver continued to wonder why she would even be here. On Laurel's part, taking in her ex and how he was looking these days. She likely would have once found the long hair and facial hair to have made him look ruggedly handsome. But now that sort of thing is pretty much the farthest thing from her mind.

"Well Ollie, you've certainly looked better." Whether or not he would wind up offended over that wasn't something she really cared about.

Oliver gave her a short laugh over that one. "You'd be right."

His laugh made her wince since it didn't sound particularly joyful as she was used to hearing. She also noticed that a few of the orderlies seemed to be watching the two of them closely. Why she wasn't sure of, but she guessed that Ollie's mom may have said something about her when she put her own son in here. Of course she had no intention of decking Ollie again, even if he got her pretty damned mad while she was here. She'd just wait til he was out and then do it as it'd be less hassle to deal with from the Orderlies. Oh yes folks, Laurel still held a lot of anger towards her ex and felt he could use another good punch or two to the face.

"To be honest, I'm not even sure why I'm here." She thought that maybe some vindictive part of her wanted to see him in this place with her own eyes. To see his lack of freedom and how he was handling it. And she wasn't entirely sure she should feel comfortable with that notion. As the last thing she wanted was to become some kind of full on bitter shrew cause of her jerk of an ex.

The former playboy could only shrug his shoulders at her. Not even really caring at the moment if she knew or didn't know why she was here. As today was just one of those kinds of days where things just sucked a whole lot, even with medications. If Laurel was irritated over that, she definitely wasn't showing it on the outside. Biting her lower lip as she gathered her courage to ask him a question that she needed an answer too. No matter how much it would hurt her as she needed to know. "Did... Did she suffer?"

Oliver looked up at her with a stunned look on his face, as it was honestly the last thing he was expecting her to ask or do. But a part of him should have realized that she would ask that very question one day. But for it to be asked now of all days, it made him question if the universe hate him.  _She deserves to know the truth. Its the least I can do._ He thought to himself as he tried not to think of the events that led her to her doom a second time thanks to Slade.

The sudden appearance of a rather dark look on Ollie's face greatly worried Laurel. And feeling fearful of what he would tell her. But she remained where she was, determined to know. Oliver let out a heavy sigh before he finally answered her with one word. "No." He likely could have said more, but he was tired and those memories he didn't want coming up weren't helping him at all. Not to mention that damned promise Sara had made him do.

Laurel felt a small sense of relief pass through her, though she wished Ollie could have said more then just that. But a 'no' was at least something to get. The two sat in silence again for several minutes with Oliver not even looking at her, and she wondered if it was because she may have brought up memories he rather not have been reminded of. It made her have a small war within herself over whether or not she really wanted him to be suffering over this. But she wasn't quite ready to forgive the man, and wasn't sure she ever would be anytime soon. It was her who wound up breaking the somewhat uncomfortable silence the two had going on. Saying that maybe she should get going and to the surprise of both, wished him well while he was here.

Oliver watched her go with a haunted look about him. "Yeah, thanks..." He finally said, though he knew she wouldn't have been able to hear him at all by then.

The former playboy sat there for several minutes more in complete silence until the orderly who had previously brought him here came for him. Oliver got up with no word to the other man and followed him in silence to his room. But halfway there, he stopped and asked the escort if he'd take him to his therapists. Even though it was unlikely that Veller would be there. But he needed to talk and honestly felt that the journal he had wasn't going to help a great deal for him. Though the orderly was surprised by the request, he complied with it and brought him to Anna's door. Which it seemed the universe decided to be nice this time as she was alone.

The woman was surprised to see him as she had been about to step out for a bit, but she was happy he had been willing to come to her in order to deal with how he was currently feeling. And she would do her absolute best to help him out.

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**Author's Notes: Holy wowzers is this a big one! Hopefully the way I handled things here was done well. As I wrote this, I debated whether or not to make this a pretty long chapter or have it in two parts. In the end, I felt that perhaps two parts was best. Also, here's something I've been wondering. If Oliver is a Bratva Captain as he was(is?) in the show. Wouldn't that have meant he had more power then Alexi and wouldn't have to do favors for the other man? Unless he was also a Captain?**


	28. Visits and Confrontations Part 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea you see within this story. And so its Al Sah-Him and not like Al-Saheem? Then again, the way they cris cross pronouncing the name 'Ra's' I wouldn't be surprised if it is both. Erm, anyways... On with the show!**

* * *

Moira was honestly feeling rather worried as she made a late night trip to Malcolm Merlyn's office in his building. She hoped the man hadn't finally decided it was time for his Enforcer to have a talk with her son about what he did or didn't possibly know. As she knew if the man did want too, she wouldn't just let him walk over her to do it. But at least she was walking into this with a victory on her belt over the news station who had broke the story of her son's stay at the ward. Her victory included buying out the station, firing the fool who reported the story live, and also firing the station manager for allowing it to happen cause he wanted 'some damn good ratings'. Afterwards, she selected someone she knew she could trust to run the station and would only report anything Queen family related on her say so alone.

She also made sure the two she fired wouldn't be able to find work at all at any other news station in the city. What they did outside of it was none of her concern, just so long as they weren't stupid enough to go against her or make the same mistake twice with another family. Her daughter had pretty much been shocked over the lengths she'd gone too. Walter had resigned himself pretty much to the fact she wasn't going to listen to him on the matter and decided to stay out of it. She did find herself wondering what her son would say once he found out what she'd done. Were he the same young man from before that blasted island, he'd likely find it to be cool or some such.

But as he was now, she just wasn't sure. But would be finding out sometime soon once she finally paid him a visit. The only reason she hadn't until now was because she had a feeling he wouldn't have been too happy to see her. Ahh... If she only knew he still wouldn't be too happy when she did come to see him. "Now what on Earth could you possibly need from me at this hour of the night Malcolm?" She asked, immediately going past any pleasantries as she finally made her way into his office.

The man looked up at her from his work with a smile on his face and stood up to go around his desk to greet the woman properly. "What? I can't possibly be just asking you here for a little get together between friends?" He asked her in a joking tone and that smile still present. And if the man thought that was going to lower her guard with him, he had another thing coming!

Moira simply arched an eyebrow at him as if she was telling him she wasn't impressed by what he was doing. And thankfully, he seemed to get the hint as he took on a more serious approach towards her. "Right, so its come to my attention recently that my son was kidnapped during his time in Hong Kong."

 _Oh dear..._  Moira certainly hoped she wasn't starting to pale in front of Malcolm, as she knew where this was going now. And seriously wanted to know how the hell he even found out about it as she was paying damn good money to keep things from getting out.

Malcolm being who he is, quickly figured out what she was likely thinking and told her he had simply over heard his son going on about it in a drunken rant and thought himself alone at the time. Something he'd used to his advantage when he realized just how drunk his son was. Which thankfully, the boy wouldn't even remember talking to him about it due to how drunk he was. That and the slightly pale look on her face helped him out too.  _Damnit Tommy!_ She thought annoyedly.

"And judging by the tone in your voice, I am assuming this is not to your liking then?"

"No Moira, its not. Its no where near my liking. And even though I wish my son would grow the Hell up, that is not one way I would wish for it to happen." She had to make an effort to keep herself from rolling her eyes over that, as she was well versed by now in how the other man wished for Tommy to be more mature. Though she was worried about what Malcolm may have in mind concerning her son.

"So is this why you called me up here? To voice your displeasure over what happened?" Its not like her son had much of a choice in the matter if that footage she watched is anything to go by!

The man just stared at her for a long moment, one that made her pretty darn uncomfortable too. "No, that's not why I called you up here at all. I called you here to warn you that should your son do something like that again. The consequences will NOT be pleasant no matter the reason he's doing it for. Is that understood?"

Her eyes widened in alarm at that threat, though on the inside she was beginning to feel a deep stirring of rage at this man for threatening harm against her son with his Enforcer. And what he would likely do to her and Thea as well after he was done with Oliver. How dare he! Its one thing to twist her arm into being party to his madness, but to threaten her children!? No, just absolutely not! "How dare you Malcolm! Do you hear me!? How dare you!" She angrily told him, and then slapped him hard across the face for good measure.

The action didn't seem to phase him however, as all he did was turn his head back to face her directly. "I dare Moira, for Tommy is MY son and I will NOT lose another member of my family. So you'd best find a way to ensure your son never does this again."

Moira went to slap him again, but this time he caught her hand and held it in his grasp. She tried to get out of it but he wouldn't budge and she honestly was starting to feel very frightened now. "Ensure it Moira, this is your only warning." He demanded of her in a deadly calm manner before finally letting go of her wrist and walking back around his desk to sit down in his chair.

She stood there as she stewed in her rage as the man got back to whatever he'd been doing previously. "Malcolm, I promise should you do ANYTHING to my son. I swear to you I will bring you down. Do you understand me? I don't give a damn if I am brought down in the process as well. But I will bring down my wrath upon you no matter the consequences!" And she truly meant it too, for no one made threats against her family and got away with it!

The Queen Matriarch was further incensed when all Malcolm did was look up at her and smile. As if what she'd just said didn't even bother him. "We'll see Moira, we'll see." His words showing he wasn't truly buying into her words.

"Yes, we will. Good night Malcolm." And with that, she angrily walked off, considering what she should do next in order to ensure her son didn't have to be in a position again to kidnap his own best friend.

**The Next Day**

Oliver had been called up to the meeting room and as he made his way there, he wondered just who in the Hell could be there now. It could go one of two ways, such as being a fairly good meeting with no issues, or it could go horribly bad in any number of ways. The fact that the staff still had no clue on how his being there got found out bugged him a little. But tried to let it go since there was nothing he could really do about it. Though he would absolutely love to thrash the one responsible. He didn't think it would be Tommy or Laurel or god forbid her dad cause that would just be outright horrible. Nor did he think it'd be likely that the Yamashiros or Anatoli would be the ones. Course it could always be the Diggles, Shrieve, his mother, or more importantly his sister. But the sight of a well dressed as always Amanda Waller was the absolute LAST thing he was expecting to see.

And the sight of her instantly put him in a bad mood and making him wish he had something to stab her with. He'd rather be seeing a raging Slade looking to kill him sitting there then her. Chien Na Wei was also a definite preferability as well. Breathing in deeply to try and keep himself calm while being unaware that the entire thing was being watched closely, he went over to her and sat down in the opposite chair and asked the question that was on his mind. "What the Hell are you doing here Waller?" And if it sounded rude? So much the better as far as he was concerned!

The woman didn't even appear phased by the rudeness he was showing her. Something she was already familiar with as it was anyway, so why be bothered now? "Manners Mr. Queen, are always important." She decided to go with as a start.

The archer scoffed at that response. "Sure they are, just not when it comes to you."

"Is that a fact? I can't possibly see why they wouldn't apply to me when it comes to the both of us." She told him with an eyebrow arched at him despite knowing full why he wouldn't be happy to see her.

He wasn't going to take the bait though, being around her showed him enough to know when she was trying to bait him. "Nice try, but that's not gonna work."

"A pity then." And it truly was, for a fired up Oliver Queen was something to be seen.

But deciding that enough was enough, she got down to business. "To answer your question however Mr. Queen. I'm simply here to make you an offer that would get you out of this place." And back to working for her and doing whatever she damned well told him too. For she was still very unhappy with him and the Yamashiros. And she'd make him hunt them down and bring them in as his first assignment for her.

 _Hah! An offer to get me out of here huh? No doubt to get me doing her dirty work for her again._  He reasonably thought to himself. But as far as he was concerned, she could shove that offer right up her ass!

"An offer from you to get me out of here huh?"

"Yes."

"Yeah... I think not. By the way, have you gained weight recently?" If that didn't get her pretty angry, then he didn't know what would.

Amanda had to fight herself to keep from showing a reaction to that as she knew its what he would have wanted.  _You insolent little prick!_

"Of course not Mr. Queen, why ever would you think that?"

"Well.. You do look a little wider around the waist." And gave her a smirk to further try and annoy her.

 _I swear I will kill this little prick! Then I'll kill off his dear little sister and their beloved mother!_  Her dark thoughts of retribution continued a bit more, which made it clear that it was a good thing Oliver wasn't capable of reading minds.

"I will not fall to your level of juvenile remarks Mr. Queen. Now, why say no to my offer? Surely its more appealing then being forced to stay here." She pointed out reasonably, and damnit if he didn't want to agree. But he wasn't about to sell his soul to her though to get out of here.

"It might be appealing, but I have no desire to be your lap dog. So yeah, the answer's no. So you can take that offer and shove it where the sun don't shine." His answer was to the point and none too kind.

Waller sighed in slight annoyance at how this was going. But it was her own fault for putting herself in this situation when she could have just had him abducted and made sure all on staff were forced into silence to keep Moira Queen from finding out anything. "Mr. Queen, let's be reasonable here shall we?"

"Oh, I'm being reasonable. I'm being all kinds of reasonable. You just don't like my kind of reasonable." He briefly wondered if he kept using that word if it'd get her angry, but decided it might not be worth it. Although a t-shirt with the word would be awesome.

She looked at him again decidedly unimpressed with him. "You and your talents are wasting away in here. And yet you care nothing for that."

He nodded at that. "Yep, that's right. Better to let them waste away then to allow you to use them for your own ends. So shut up about it and move on."

He finally got a glare that and had to smirk at that small victory. "Mr. Queen you are honestly starting to try my patience and continuing to do so will not be a smart thing."

"Well I did drop out of 4 colleges after all, and trying the patience of people is a great skill to have. Highly recommended." He told her seriously with two thumb's up.

"Do you remember a certain threat of mine during your last days in Hong Kong Mr. Queen?" The kid gloves were off now as she was damned tired of dealing with this little prick. She may not be able to get him to say yes, but she will get him riled up enough to do something possibly stupid.

 _No the Hell she did not just do that!_  Came the angry thought raging through his mind.

Standing up abruptly and causing the chair to noisily move away from him. He leaned over the table with his hands on it and giving her a very angry glare. As now, he was seriously not happy. "Oh I remember, and if you even THINK of actually doing it. I SWEAR I WILL FIND YOU, BEAT YOU SENSELESS, TIE YOU UP, AND CUT YOU IN VARIOUS PLACES WITH A VERY SHARP ARROWHEAD BEFORE PUTTING IT INTO YOUR COLD BLACK HEART! UNDERSTAND!?" His tirade alarmed many in the room and was causing his watchers to move into position should he do anything else.

Amanda however simply just sat there with her arms crossed, nonplussed over the whole thing. She didn't doubt he would certainly do his level best to carry it out but she would not be very easy to find. Unknown to either of them, Moira had been making her way in for a visit when she caught sight of her son talking to someone and hid behind a column to watch the two of them and wondering who Oliver could possibly be talking too. But the angry words from her son's mouth shocked the Hell out of her, making her wonder what on Earth could have happened to make him go that far.

"I understand perfectly Mr. Queen, but it won't be that easy to find me. And who knows, you may never be able too if I should follow through. And then what would you do then? Hmm?" She asked with him a smirk of her own, knowing she had him good and proper in her own little trap. Oh she certainly had no plans to do anything to his family or friends, but since he had so foolishly and rudely rejected her get free card. Well, something had to be done for it was the principle of the thing as far as she was concerned.

What happened next however shocked everyone as Oliver went over the table, knocking Waller out of her chair and started to choke her. He was about to even punch her as hard as he could right in the face until an orderly speared him. Forcing him off the woman and on to the ground pretty hard with another's weight on him. The pain it caused in not only his body but also his healing shoulder was felt immensely given by the loud groan he gave. Two more orderlies picked him up and started attempting to drag him away, but he wasn't making it easy as he struggled against them while yelling out threats towards his visitor. Thankfully for them however, a doctor came in with a sedative to knock him out cold.

The orderly who saved her helped get her to her feet and then promptly told her she was likely going to be banned from the facility. "I understand, and I am just fine with that." She rasped out as she rubbed her sore throat, secure in her victory over the punk. Even if it did nearly get her killed just now.

As she turned to walk away, her exit was cut short as a well dressed blonde woman was standing in her path with fury easily seen on her face. She quickly came to realize it was Moira Queen.  _Well well, I suppose its fitting we cross paths today._  She mused to herself as the two stared at one another.

And then a painful sting was felt on Amanda Waller's face as her head turned to the side. She was honestly stunned as she hadn't expected the woman to do that for fear of hurting her dainty self. And would have to chastise herself later on for her failure in proper judgement of someone. "Who the Hell are you!?" Moira demanded of the woman.

"Amanda Waller at your service Mrs. Queen. And to answer a future question of yours, I was merely here to make a proposition to your son to return to working for me. But he foolishly turned me down."

Ohh how Moira wanted to slap the Hell out of this woman again! "Working for you? When the Hell did he EVER do that!?"

Amanda started walking past her. "Oh, in Hong Kong." She responded with superiority laced in her tone and then resumed walking towards the exit. Something that angered Moira even further.

"You were why he was stuck in Hong Kong!? One of the reasons for why I had to force my son to be in this place!?"

Waller had to smirk at the reaction she was getting, as it was nearly as good as the one she'd gotten from Oliver. She turned her head to the side to give the unhappy mother an answer she wouldn't like and kept on going. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY SON! DO YOU HEAR ME! STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY! I WILL GET A RESTRAINING ORDER IF I MUST!"

The departing woman simply started to have something of a swagger in her walk as she kept on going, but told the woman over her shoulder she was more than welcome to do it. As she didn't care what she did. Poor Moira, any plans of a visit with her son had just gone out of the window thanks to that she beast. And it'd be nearly a week later until she was finally able to talk with her son as he'd been kept in confinement until they felt it was okay to have him out amongst the others. A week she spent making good use of her time in securing a restraining order to keep that vile woman away from her family. She wanted to do more then just that, but when she finally got the chance to speak with her son about it on a Thursday of that week. He had nicely been able to convince her to not push for more. Unfortunately after that however, the rest of their talk didn't go so well as he finally had the chance to tell her how very unhappy he was with her for doing this to him.

As he seriously did not want to push their luck when it came to her. Moira had to tell her son that he was damned lucky his doctors and the board of the institute weren't pushing for his stay to be even longer with them. Something he wound up feeling damned grateful about too.

**Several days later at Argus HQ...**

Waller had been going through the daily mail when one of the soldiers stationed at the HQ came into her office with another envelope and told her she needed to immediately see it. Taking it from him and giving the okay to leave, she set about opening it. And what she found infuriated her somewhat but she had to admire Moira Queen for her willingness to get a restraining order against her. As far as Amanda was concerned, such things held little weight for her. But she would let the woman have her supposed victory for now. "Enjoy your 'victory' Mrs. Queen." She stated to herself with a cold smile on her face.

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**Author's Notes: And here we are good buddies! As you can tell, I'm obviously not going to be doing anything with the Shrieve is a bad guy and using the omega virus on Hong Kong storyline. Up next, Freedom is in the air!**


	29. Freedom Never Felt So Good!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Also, fair warning for everyone. This story in the future will be taking trips down the Rabbit Hole from time to time. Anyways.. Now that we got that out of the way, let's roll on!**

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June had approached and its Summer magic was certainly being felt. Not to mention old geezers were about to start feeling their heart rates go up when they say pretty young girls in Summer styled clothing to stay cool. And would also give Oliver something of a freak out more than once when he happened to see Thea in something he didn't think she should be wearing. Also would make him wish he'd still been in the Ward too. But that's a bit a ways from now however as a magic of another kind was about to happen on this particular day. For Oliver Queen after several months of being in the Ward, was finally being released. Though he had little idea of that particular development as he and his escort made their way through the halls for some reason he wasn't sure of. Though he hoped they weren't about to try shock treatments on him as that would suck.

Then again, he had to remind himself this wasn't exactly that kind of place. But life could always surprise you. The escort soon stopped, causing Oliver to shake off his musings as the man opened a door and motioned for him to step inside. And once he was in there, he got a quick look at everything and had to feel a small sense of irony being at work here as he had realized this was a court room. Which he guessed they likely use for when a serious issue comes up with a resident of the facility. And that theory made him wonder if he somehow messed up and its why he was here now. He didn't think it was the 'Choke a Waller' incident as that'd been weeks ago and he'd been in confinement for awhile afterwards. Something he honestly hated too!

Although if he was being honest with himself, he'd do it again if it was over Waller. Looking around the room he also saw that his mother, Dr. Veller, and Anna were in the room too. Making him even more curious about what was about to happen. Coming over to where they were, his mom greeted him with a smile and a hug. Something he only in slight reluctance returned as he still felt some anger and resentment towards her for putting him in here. But even he knew it had been for the best, it was just the lack of personal choice in the matter for him primarily. She then pulled away but kept her hands on his shoulders as she looked at him.

"Oh my sweet boy, you are in desperate need of a shave." Oliver rolled his eyes at that.

"Nah, I like it. I think it even adds a touch of rugged to my dashing handsome features." His words made it Moira's turn to roll her eyes, well if she wasn't a proper lady anyway. But she did settle for shaking her head in fond exasperation.

The interactions had left smiles on the faces of Oliver's therapists and neither really wanted to interrupt the moment. Oliver's curiousity however got the best of him. "So what's up with this court room? I'm not in trouble am I?" Anna was quick to the punch to re-assure him that he wasn't, something Moira was grateful for and making Oliver feel relieved.

Before he or anyone else could say anything however, a man in a judge's outfit soon appeared from a door and headed towards his seat. As he made to sit down, a man in a guard outfit handed him a file which he looked at for a short period of time before looking at the 4 of them and then back to the guard and giving a nod to the man. "Court is now in session, residing over this hearing for Oliver Jonas Queen is the honorable Judge Stodman." The guard said loud enough for all to hear despite it only being the 6 of them in that room.

"You may now be seated." Were his next words.

The 4 did with Oliver's curiousity over everything increasing more and more.  _Hearing? For what exactly!?_

Little did he know that Moira was perfectly aware of what was about to happen, and had he thought to ask she would have told him. Her not thinking to say something to put him more at ease was an oversight on her part due to how nervous she is about what the turnout may be. The judge looked right at Oliver, causing him to look right back. As he wasn't about to feel intimidated by the man if that was his intent. "Mr. Queen, we are here today to find out whether or not your time here at the Miles Penderton Psychiatric Ward has ultimately been beneficial enough for your possible release from this facility."

The archer's eyes widened over that.  _Release!? Seriously!?_  He was honestly stunned over that and wondered why his mom hadn't said anything to him about it. Or why he himself hadn't pressed for more information.

"In addition to this, its come to light over how the information about your staying here was leaked. Your friend Willie along with an accomplice of his were both behind it and as such, both have been removed from this facility."

Oliver's eyes widened even more over that revelation, though he only really cared about the fact that Willie had been the one to do it.  _Oh I'm gonna find that little asshole!_  He promised to himself with wonderful thoughts of retribution.

"Dr. Veller and Dr. Wellman, you both approached myself and Mrs. Queen about allowing the release of Mr. Queen to return to his home life. My question for the both of you is this; Do you both feel this is wise? As he has only really been here around 3 months now."

The two therapists looked at one another and it was Veller who decided to speak up after what was apparently an unspoken conversation between the two. "Yes we do your honor, as we truly and strongly feel that Mr. Queen has come a long way since he was placed here in April. It also helps in his favor that he was looking to get help before being put in here. However, should his release be obtained, he will still need to take the medications for his depression and PTSD that he still suffers from. While the depression is admittedly beginning to fade away due to his time here, the PTSD is the factor that isn't as easy to be free of."

The judge nodded at the man's words. Anna then spoke up. "It should be noted however that thankfully Mr. Queen's case of PTSD isn't as extensive as most cases tend to be. As he has to this date not exhibited signs of self-harm, aggression, self-destructive behavior, or screaming. Nor any hallucinations, severe anxiety, or panic attacks. Any signs of mistrust can be more seen as him being in an unknown environment and needing time to adjust before being willing enough to trust. Nor has he wanted to commit suicide or even really experience much in the way of unwanted thoughts. It is my belief and that of Dr. Veller's that being back amongst his family and friends will continue to further help Mr. Queen's journey to full health. So long as they are not doing things that will be detrimental to that effort."

That would be an issue with Tommy no doubt if and when they patched things up. He wasn't sure how the vigilante side of things would factor into it, but he would deal with it when the time came. He also figured there would be problems if and when his mother decided it was time for him to take over the company. Which hopefully that particular conversation wouldn't happen for a long while to come. But it seems fate or whatever was on his side as Veller addressed the issue of his mother possibly bringing up taking over the family company. Addressing that the stress of running it would not be a good thing for him, and would be best to wait until it was a certainty that it wouldn't be an issue. Something the woman understood and was more than happy to comply with. For she definitely didn't want to be a factor in getting him sent back here again.

The judge went silent for several minutes, considering their words and leaving the others in a tense filled moment as they eagerly awaited the man's final decision. He then motioned for Oliver to step forward. "Mr. Queen, it is evident you have progressed pretty well in the time you've spent here. Aside from that choking incident however, but as she more or less provoked you into that action, we are going to put that incident to the side and leave it be. Understood son?"

"Yes sir, understand perfectly your honor." The judge gave a nod of satisfaction to that.

"I will agree to your release so long as you abide by several things. The first, mandatory counseling sessions with Dr. Veller for the next three months at a time and day of his choosing. The second, continued taking of your medications. The third, staying away from alcohol and drugs is a smart choice as it could seriously ruin your health due to your medications and take away your freedom. And lastly, do you have any intentions of moving out of your home?"

Moira wanted to scoff at that idea, of course her son didn't! Why would he possibly even want to move out anyway!? "Yes your honor, its something I've actually been thinking of doing." He kept his focus on the man in front of him, which caused him to completely miss the look of shock on his mother's face.

"Very well, however I ask that you wait one, maybe two months before doing so. Primarily as a safety precaution until Dr. Veller feels you are perfectly capable of living on your own. Are these terms acceptable to you Mr. Queen?"

The prospect of having to live under his mother's roof for another month or two until Veller gave the okay wasn't something he liked much. But he would do it if it meant him getting out of here. His mother however was happy about this turn of events as it meant that she could mother him a bit and perhaps even talk him out of moving out. As honestly, there was just no need! Were anyone aware of this line of thinking, they'd likely be right about her not wanting to have a half way empty nest considering how he'd been thought dead for quite awhile and wasn't ready to see him move out just yet.

"Yes your honor, I find them all acceptable. And if I might add, alcohol and drugs honestly don't even interest me these days." He told the man seriously.

"That's a good thing to hear son. A damned good thing. Very well then Mr. Queen, I hereby grant you your release from this facility. And if I see you again anytime soon, I will not be a happy man. Understood?" He asked firmly, and after getting a nod to show that he did in fact understand, he banged his gavel down to signify his approval and end the session of court.

The therapists clapped with a bit of cheering as Moira rushed to hug her son, happy as can be that her baby boy was finally coming home. His own happiness over getting released let him happily return the hug. "Let's go home sweetheart." Were the soft spoken words of his mother. And the prospect of home and of freedom, never felt so great as it has now.

"Yeah, home." He replied just as softly with a smile on his face. And the two made their way out of the courtroom and to the outside world with his therapists following them with smiles of their own. Oliver only stopped once and that was to retrieve the clothes he'd been wearing when he had been brought here. Along with the journals he was surprisingly allowed to keep. Which was something he definitely intended to keep using as a means to get out his thoughts on various things since they had been helping him immensely.

Once outside and the smile still on his face and his mother having yet to let go of him. He took a deep breath as he took in the fresh air and was soon rushed at by his sister as their mother quickly let go to witness the event between the two. Thea had her own hug for her big brother she fully intended to give. "Ollie! I'm so happy you've been released! And I'm so sorry for not seeing you sooner. I hope you can forgive me." Tears were already coming down her face from happiness and some slight fear that he wouldn't.

"Its okay Thea, I understand why you didn't visit me. I realize it must have been hard for you and so you have nothing to apologize for." Was his stern response that would hopefully get her to believe him.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

His reassurances made her feel instantly relieved and after she took care of a little revenge on him for what he did to Tommy after she found out what happened thanks to Tommy drunkenly calling her one night. She'd do what she could for her big brother to help get him nice and comfortable at home. "Love you!" Those two words made Oliver himself want to tear up as it was likely the greatest thing he could have heard at that moment.

"Love you too Speedy." His response was definitely heartfelt and had really made Moira wish she had a camera to capture this beautiful moment.

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**Author's Notes: Freedom for Oliver has arrived at last! But will coming events make him wish he'd still be in the Ward? Find out as we roll on! And for anyone with an issue with Moira putting him in the Ward and feeling she's not allowed to do that. As his mother and him living under her roof, if she has a legitimate reason for placing him in there and its agreed on by an outside source like a therapist. Its perfectly allowable to happen. Look forward to your R and R!**


	30. The Beginning Stages of Motherly Moira, Oldie Styled Music, And Other Surprises

**Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but what you see here. And many thanks for all the support in this story! Hard to believe this is at chapter 30 now!**

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As the happy trio made their way to the limo, Veller stopped them as he wanted a moment to speak with Oliver. "I'll be seeing you soon I expect, and I have to say that you have done tremendously well in your recovery. Not many can say they'd been able to do that."

Oliver nodded his understanding. "I guess I just had a few motivations for it." His words had made Moira and Thea smile, though he hadn't been talking about just them though. But there was no need to mention that, as he definitely didn't want to wind up in prison! Or slapped for that matter.

Anna came up next with a smile of her own. "As my colleague said, you've done tremendously well during your time here. And I hope you don't ever have to come back here either. Unless its for a visit with me in case this guy can't get through to you." She said teasingly in Veller's direction, making the man roll his eyes good naturedly as Oliver chuckled a little.

"Oh, and I have this for you as well. I figured after the Dobie Grey experience, you would greatly enjoy this mix cd I put together for you." Oliver took the unexpected gift from her outstretched hand, and then surprising everyone, he hugged her.

"Thank you, this means a lot to me." He told her seriously, which got him a smile from the woman.

"You are very welcome! Now, off you go!" He chuckled again at her enthusiasm and giving one last look at the place, he gestured for his mom and sister to get into the limo first, followed by him shortly after and making himself comfortable as the driver closed the door.

And soon, the happy family were on their way home. Along with oldie but quite pleasant music playing as well once Oliver made his request to put it in the limo's cd player, along with another request to find a music store to stop at before going home. Which made Moira instantly curious as to what her son was up too. And gave Thea ideas on what music she could maybe introduce her brother too as Lord knows he's out of touch with today's music! And the first song to play was nicely enough 'Dobie Grey's Drift Away' song. Something that instantly started to make him feel relaxed as he closed his eyes and listened to the music. His mom and sister watched it all happened, and it was quite the experience for both of them as they had never ever before seen him like this. And both had to admit it was pretty darn nice too!

While this kind of music wasn't exactly Thea's thing, she had to admit it really did sound pretty good. She wondered if her brother knew the name and if he did, she was definitely gonna get it for herself. She was also curious about what else is on this cd he was given, but supposed she would find out fairly soon. No one would talk for the next fifteen minutes as they all enjoyed the songs that continued to play after Drift Away and Oliver was really glad Anna had given him this as it was truly great. And to his and his family's surprise, the driver pulled to a stop and informed them he had found a music store as he'd requested. Thanking the man as he got out, not even bothering to wait for the driver to open the door. He took a look around at his surroundings and noticed the Community vibe feel the area had to it.

And it was something he honestly found himself quickly liking as he considered he wouldn't mind coming here often now. Thea also quickly made her way out as well and a smile appeared on her face as she realized what part of the city they were in. "Hey! We're in Little Vibe!" She exclaimed happily, causing Oliver to look at her in confusion and causing her to huff a little as he somehow didn't even know that.

"How can you not know about Little Vibe Ollie!?" She asked him incredulously, her tone of voice and the question she asked had their mother leaning her head outward to see her children talking. Moira could honestly say she wasn't surprised her son didn't know about this area of the city considering some of his early habits in life.

"Uhh... Well, unless this area came around while I was gone. I didn't exactly pay much attention to some parts of the city before the Island." His response made Thea roll her eyes, but she was excited at a chance to educate her brother on something she was more then aware of.

"Oh its been around for years Ollie, and its named Little Vibe because its a small section of the city but the vibe of the place is generally buzzing with good feelings. Events tend to happen quite often around here as well. Matter of fact there was a Jazz Festival around here last week that Shane and I came to see as a date." Unfortunately, Shane hadn't been too big on the whole Jazz scene. But he put up with it for her.

While she and him were still together and fairly happy with one another, they had long decided to avoid sex after that first time while they were high. As she wasn't quite ready to fully trust him with that portion of their relationship despite his numerous assurances he hadn't bragged about what they did to his buddies. But he did understand why she wasn't willing to go that route with him again, which she was thankful for. Vibe Town was actually something one of her friends had brung her to as a 14th birthday present and she had had a great time too. Not only was the place an area older folks could come and enjoy life without the hustle and bustle of the city, but so could teenagers as well. Matter of fact, Robert Queen himself had taken Moira to a nice small little restaurant around here 2 years before his death for their anniversary.

Something Moira had greatly enjoyed and always treasured afterwards. Legends of the music industry had also been known to drop by Little Vibe from time to time as well. And despite some attempts by others to try and turn this wonderful little area into something else, those like Moira ensured it was stopped. For a place like this was a true treasure that shouldn't be lost. Oliver found himself wishing he had known about this place when he was younger, though he knew he likely wouldn't have appreciated it and gave a smile of appreciation to his sister. "Thanks Speedy, I appreciate you telling me that. So, you and Shane huh?"

"You and kidnapping Tommy huh?" She asked him archly in return, mostly so that she could avoid the third degree from her brother. As she still vividly remembered how Shaned acted that night after he met her brother thank you very much!

Oliver winced at that and wondered how the Hell she even knew about that. Moira was rather surprised as well. "THEA!" She called out, reprimanding her daughter sternly.

Something the young girl ignored though in favor of glaring at her brother. Seeing the look on his face she answered what he was about to ask her. "Oh? Wondering how I know? Well let's just say Tommy called me one night when he was drunk, barely letting me get a word in and thinking I was Laurel he called. A real eye opening experience right there let me tell you." She told him as she crossed her arms while giving him a damn good glare.

Oliver just sighed as his good mood pretty much started going down hill now. "Look. Can we PLEASE not have this conversation out in public? There was a very real, very legit reason it happened. But I will explain that when we get home. Okay?" His sister just gave him another look that told him she wasn't quite ready to back down just yet.

"I will ONLY back off if you promise me Ollie. Promise me that you'll tell me the truth." Something Moira intended to be around for when that conversation happened.

"I... I promise." God how he hated being put on the spot like that, but he would honor his promise just as he did the promise he made to Anatoli and later Sara.

Thea looked at him for a moment as if deciding whether or not to believe him. "Fine, but don't think I'm forgetting this."

"I wouldn't dream of it Speedy, I wouldn't dream of it."

Satisfied by that, she walked past him to go inside the store before thinking of something she'd been wanting to do. "Oh yeah, one more thing." He turned to look at her in annoyed confusion, wondering what she could possibly have to add now to the whole thing. Moira suddenly got the impression her daughter was about to do something rather painful.

"Which is what exactly?" He asked her warily.

"THIS!" And she proceeded to stomp down as hard as she could on his foot. The heel of her black and very fashionable stiletto landing solidly on his foot. Making him howl in pain as he hopped around on one foot while holding his hurting foot.

Oh yes, she was spot on in her assessment of what her daughter had done. And could only sigh in exasperation at the sibling antics.  _Barely out of the Ward and already in trouble._

Unfortunately for Oliver though, the door of the store came flying open and hit him in the side, causing him to fall over. Thankfully not on to his injured shoulder as that would not have been pleasant. Thea looked on in shock at the sight, not realizing at first that it was Laurel who happened to be unintentionally responsible for that moment. "Thea!? What, what are you doing here?" She didn't exactly think this part of the city would really be her sort of thing. And more fashionably expensive places being her thing instead. Ahh... The joys of assuming things.

"Hi Laurel! My brother decided to come here after getting out of the Ward. Which was a nice surprise as I like to come around this area myself. And even nicer is that this is a first time experience for him." Well that certainly threw Laurel for a loop, and made her feel slightly guilty for assuming things about the younger girl. Though she wondered where Ollie was in her head as she asked that very question.

Thea smirked at the girl and wondered what she might do when she told her what happened. "Well, I don't know if you've spoken with Tommy recently about a little thing my dear brother did. But I stomped Ollie's foot for it, and then when he was hopping around, you kind of... Hit him with the door." She informed the girl helpfully.

Laurel's eyes went wide at that information.  _That's what the thump was!_

"Oops?" She offered weakly, and then looked behind the door to see Oliver laying on his side groaning.

And oh yes she was aware of what he did to Tommy in Hong Kong, another thing she wasn't happy with her ex about either. Though she was curious to how Thea even knew since she didn't think Ollie would even want her knowing. "So um.. How did you know about what happened to Tommy?"

"Oh he called me while he was drunk thinking it was you he called."

"Oh."

"Yep."

Things went awkwardly silent for a few minutes as neither were sure of what to say next as Moira just looked on at the sight before her from her spot in the Limo. She was about to get out to help her son up when that silence ended with a groan from Oliver. "Ohh I shoulda stayed in the Ward." He muttered to himself with another groan as he finally got the strength he needed to force himself up. Moira quickly got out of the car to help him up.

"If we are all done fooling around now, can we please get on with things?" She asked the three archly, despite the fact Laurel wasn't even involved in what they were planning to do.

"Let me get back the 10 years I just lost first." Moira just sighed as Thea laughed in delight.

"I am so sorry for that Ollie." Laurel's sincere apology got her a shocked look from the man as he hadn't even fully realized she was there with them.

She saw that too and wasn't even surprised by it considering how things had been going between them. For all she knew, he likely felt she would be more inclined to wanting him to be in pain. And as she's previously explored in herself, she knows that there is a part of her that would like to see him go through that for what he did to her. "Well... I think I'll just get going then." She decided as the awkwardness got a little bit much for her.

"See ya!" Thea called out as the girl took off. Moira decided to get back inside the limo as she wasn't quite wanting to go inside the store. Oliver just continue to stare in the direction Laurel went off too, wondering just how he could fix things between himself and the Lances. But he knew they still needed time, and that was something he would abide by.

Thea noticed her mom being inside the car. "You aren't coming in with us mom?" She asked curiously.

Moira smiled at her daughter as she looked at her. "Oh no sweety, I feel this is a moment for the two of you to have. Just try not to stomp on his foot again okay?"

"I'll try, but I make no promises." The young teenager replied jokingly, making her mom laugh a little.

The young Queen then turned her attention to her brother and saw that he was continuing to stare at Laurel's direction. "Hey Ollie, head out of the Laurel Cloud!" She called out while snapping her fingers a few times to get his attention. Which worked as he turned to her blinking a little dazedly.

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that Thea. Got a little lost in my head there."

She smiled knowingly at him. "Uh-huh, got lost in the cloud that is Laurel." Thea told him teasingly.

Her brother just rolled his eyes and shook his head at her. "Yeah, no. That ship has crashed and burned." The look he got from her told him she wasn't convinced of that.

But all he did was sigh and started towards the store's door and motioned her to come on while rubbing his side a little. And follow him she did, but with a smile still on her face. In the end, their visit to the music store proved very beneficial for Oliver. Not only did Thea select a few Jazz and Blues albums for him, but he also wound up finding 'Dobie Grey's Ultimate Collection album'. Along with a few other choices that the store clerk recommended. Though Thea did try to get him to listen to a few Pop songs, but he put his foot down on that one. All in all, aside from how things went when they first got here, things had turned into a great success at this place. A place Oliver would definitely be coming back to in the future.

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**Author's Notes: And here we are good buddies! I hope you guys enjoy this one! Quick question, how many of you would like to see what Sara's been up too? Thought recently about dedicating a few chapters to her and figured I'd get some input on it from you guys. Though she won't be coming home just yet. Also, over on FF.net under the penname of Lycox where I always post new chapters first, I've put up a poll concerning whether or not Oliver should move out. So do be sure to check that out! And how about that Flash and Arrow this week!? Fantastic stuff! R and R!**


	31. Unpleasant Truths

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Now let's roll on!**

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The ride home after the visit to the music store had been fairly silent aside from the mix cd he'd been given. Though Oliver was wanting to check out some of the music he'd gotten at the store, but figured he'd just wait til he was in his room to check each of them out. The quiet on the way home had been tense due to the impending conversation he was about to have with his sister thanks to that promise he had to make to his sister. He'd rather honestly be fighting for his life against Slade then have this conversation since he knew it was likely going to color his sister's views on him and he wasn't sure how he would handle it. And after choosing to take his stuff to his room instead of allowing Raisa to do it, something Thea privately thought was just him stalling for time. He made his way reluctantly downstairs to the front room where she had informed him previously that she'd be waiting for him at. Naturally their mother was also present as well, which just made things more tense filled for him.

 _Why couldn't this have been a simple welcome home thing?_  He wondered to himself somewhat despondently.

Thea had seen her mother look up and took that as a sign that her brother had made his way into the living room. Turning part of herself to lean over the couch while looking right at him, she told him to come sit down with her so that he could explain himself. The tone in her voice showing she wasn't playing around, though he wondered why he had to do a damned thing just cause she's demanding it.  _Oh right, because I promised. Never mind the fact that I may not even want to think about it._  He thought sourly.

"You know, if anything this situation should be reversed with me wanting to talk to you about Shane since you dodged the question about him earlier." He remarked somewhat sarcastically.

"Yes well, we all can't have what we want brother dear." Thea responded in kind, definitely intending to avoid that particular subject with her brother of all people. Moira had to hide a smile at the interactions so far between her children. Though she herself had to admit she was rather curious about how things were with the boy Thea's been dating for some time now. Perhaps some girl talk would be in order soon she considered.

Oliver considered his sister's words and had to agree on that. As God only knows he has learned that lesson the hard way several times over. Seeing that her brother wasn't about to start talking anytime soon, she started off things herself by asking why he would kidnap his own brother in all but blood. "I really, REALLY DON'T want to talk about this with you Thea." He told her in a warning tone, something she really didn't give a damn about if the look on her face was any indication.

Looking to his mom for help but before he could get in a word, Thea jumped to her feet and got in his face. Well as best as she could anyway due to their height difference. That got a growl from her brother which honestly shocked her a little but she wasn't about to back off like some frightened little kid.  _Queen stubborn trait be damned!_  Came the sour thought from the mind of the archer.

"Fine! You really want to know so badly Speedy?" Her brother challenged.

And it would be a challenge the girl accepted much to his growing annoyance. "Yes, yes I do Ollie. Why would you do it? Huh? Would you do it to me? To mom? To Laurel? Raisa even?" Each question of hers had caused him to step back as if he'd been hit and he was seriously not liking it. But the last thing he wanted to do was run off as he damned well knew she wasn't going to let this go. Even if their mom said otherwise.

He looked her dead in the eye when he started speak. "I did it because originally they wanted me to end his life with a bullet so he wouldn't find me. Had I not kidnapped him, someone else would have done the deed instead. And if kidnapping you, mom, or anybody else without going to far with it was something that I had to do in order to keep any of you from being killed. Then yes, yes I would do it."

Thea's eyes had widened at the grounded out words, especially over the fact that he would be very willing to kidnap his own family and friends if it meant their continued safety. Moira was also likewise shocked by the admission and hoped like Hell her son would never have to wind up in that sort of position again like he had been with Tommy. She had a feeling that dreadful Waller woman was behind it and even voiced that question to her son. Making Thea look at her mom wondering who she was talking about, even though the name did sound familiar...

The young Queen teen wanted to be in denial however after learning of all this but knew that burying her head in the sand so to speak wouldn't do any good. As she did push him to know after all with out even really thinking or caring how it might bother him since she so badly wanted answers over the incident with Tommy. Oliver looked over at his mother with an empty look on his face that worried the woman a bit. "Yes, despite the fortunate bit of leg room I had to work with, I really had no other choice but to do as she wanted." He sure as Hell wasn't about to mention Maseo's involvement in the whole thing either since the less his family knew, the better off they were. The sudden hug he got from his mother, though a surprise, was very welcome for him considering how things were right now.

Of course a later action on Amanda Waller's part would blow that the Hell out of the water and give him yet another reason to want her dead. But that's an event to cover for another time however. As he hugged his mother in the palpably tense filled front room, he turned to his sister and looked her dead in the eyes and making her flinch in the process from the cold feeling emptiness that seemed to be coming from her brother's eyes. "Are you happy now?" He asked coldly, causing his mother to gasp as she pulled away to give him a full on motherly look of disapproval. Not that it bothered him in the least darn bit either considering the glares of Raisa, Tatsu, and Waller were a whole helluva lot scarier. Not to mention Shado's too the very rare few occasions he did something to get her angry with him.

 _Am I happy now!? How can I be happy after hearing what I wanted to know!?_  Thea thought, now wishing she never had pushed for information from her brother.

Not bothering to give her brother a response as tears started coming down her face, she ran past him and their mother to her room to deal with everything. Moira, seeing that her glare of motherly doom wasn't working as she hoped it would, snapped at him for asking her such a horrible question. He had to breathe deeply a few times to gain control over his boiling emotions and started to walk away from his mother. Her letting it happen was something he was grateful for as he honestly didn't want to say something to make the whole situation even worse.  _Maybe now she'll know better then to push for things she shouldn't know about._  He thought to himself as he walked off to his own room.

Leaving Moira by herself in the front room with tears of her own wanting to make themselves known, wondering how they were going to fix this particular mess. As she knew this was going to be something where herself or Raisa being involved wouldn't be a particularly big help. And it would take one of her children coming to the other and repairing the new damage.  _What a horrible home coming for my boy._ She thought sadly to herself.

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**Author's Notes: And there we have it with more family issues developing as questions get answered. I honestly had thought of including Thea stomping his foot again, but ultimately decided against it. And boy is it gonna be a long few months til the next seasons of Flash/Arrow and as well as Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow! Up next, A Canary in Nanda Parbat! R and R!**


	32. Of Canaries and Heirs Part 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. And now my friends, its time for a trip down the rabbit hole. Enjoy!**

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**The Southern Border of Kahndaq**

Upon the Southern border of the country of Kahndaq was one of several outposts of loyal Kahndaqian soldiers fighting for not only their lives but for their country against a small invading group of men who sought to infiltrate the country and bring war with them when the rest of their compatriots joined them. The outpost soldiers had been fighting against these invaders off and on for several weeks with little to no aid from the Capital despite their pleas. Which had been unusual considering their King was not the kind of man to ignore such a threat as this one. Their outpost was the first in a line of defense of the Southern border and was the largest of the Southern outposts because of this.

The reason for this being was that this was the only way to access the country via the Southern way if you intended to come through this path. But for the soldiers this time, it was seemingly looking as if though they would fail this day to stop their invaders. Any help from the other outposts of the area would fail to reach them in time, much to the severe annoyance of the leader of the men stationed there.

He was quickly trying to make his way to his young teenaged son who'd been stationed there with him as he intended for the boy to go and warn the other outposts of what's to come as well as the Kahndaqian capital Shiruta of the approaching danger and of their failure to stop it this time. "Farhan,  **Hadhdhar**  iil- thaenyyn iicntaeg wa iil- Raacs mael!" His son looked at him in shock before putting his attention back on the incoming sword meant to kill him.

"Hayir baba!" He shouted in protest over his father's request.

The two fought beside one another before the older man finally got a word in. "Hayır! Git ve onları uyarmak!" He ordered, for the other outposts and the Capital must know of their failure!

The boy hesitated again until his father shouted at him to get going. Striking down another opponent, the young man ran off to find a horse that was hopefully still alive. Luckily finding one, he quickly got on it and motioned for it to start moving with great urging. Leaving the battlefield behind him with great reluctance, but warn them he would. And vengeance upon his enemies would be gained as well!

**Two Days Later in Nanda Parbat**

In a remote location in the mountains of Tibet was an old temple that been there for centuries. And was home to a group that were perhaps some of the most deadliest people to walk the Earth known as the League of Assassins headed by Ra's Al Ghul, the Demon's Head himself. And for centuries he presided over the League of Assassins as its head. Currently, two if its members could be seen in a spacious room doing intense training that would make even Special Forces members wince. Intense and occasionially brutal that it may be, it truly served Nanda Parbat's residents well in their assignments and would continue to do so for as long as the LoA remained in the world. One of the figures was a young blonde woman who had been with the League for nearly a year now after her partner had found her drifting about near the island of Lian Yu.

Her partner was a beautiful woman with black/brunette hair and had a Middle Eastern look about her that the blond felt made the other woman look quite exotic. Something her partner had come to know of quite well due to the nature of their relationship. The blonde was once known to her friends and family as Sara Lance. A young girl in love with Oliver Queen and even ran off with him on his father's yacht despite the pain it would cause her sister should she ever find out. And after two years of Hell and even re-uniting with the long thought to be dead Oliver on the island of Lian Yu, she found herself at the mercy of nature herself yet again until she was found by the beautiful woman who is with her now.

The woman in question was Nyssa Al Ghul, daughter and heir to Ra's Al Ghul. But she also held a title she came most to enjoy since Sara had come into her life. And that title was lover. The love she had found with her Canary was a new thing for the girl and found herself wondering how she had gone for so long with out it before. The months spent together had certainly caused the two to grow close despite how Nyssa's father felt of the union. Though he kept silent on the matter until he felt otherwise necessary to speak his piece. For Sara, she was no longer even going by her old name, but that of Ta-er al-Safar. Which was Arabic for Yellow Bird and even The Canary. A fitting name too for she had chosen a special device that when used would cause a loud scream to occur, often shattering windows, causing disorientation, and even burst ear drums.

The device, along with her bo-staff had been something she felt drawn to and soon became very skilled with her chosen weapons after a good amount of training. Something that even Ra's found to be a surprise as he hadn't expected such a girl as her to be a quick learner despite the amount of time it took her. Those who trained her even had something akin to high praise for the girl and she had resolved to further her skills in other areas. As if to prove she had a place here, and maybe even show Ra's that her daughter's love for her wasn't mis-placed as she just knew the man wasn't a big fan of her or the relationship she started with his daughter. That particular fact after she learned it had been a shocker for the girl but her feelings for Nyssa when they started to develop weren't something she was about to fight against.

Though she may not be as highly skilled as others in the League, she could reasonably hold her own very well as two would be rapists had found out the hard way once while she was on her first mission in Germany with Al-Owal watching over her to ensure she completed her mission and not run away at the first chance she got. Something she understood considering she was the newbie around and trust hadn't exactly been high in regards to her. The man had even given her a standing ovation over how she dispatched the would be rapists. That experience, along with other experiences she either had or witnessed other women going through had instilled in her the mantra that no woman should suffer at the hands of a man.

However, her actions towards horrible men despite the intention behind it and the things she had to do while on a mission was starting to chip away pieces of her soul and be surrounded by a growing darkness in herself. By this point however, she knew well enough that saying anything to Nyssa or anyone else would do no good considering the much longer time many of them had been here. Sara was grateful that no one back home knew of this as she knew they'd be pretty horrified by what she had become. Were he alive, Ollie would probably be horrified by it all too despite some of his own actions while on Lian Yu. Like ending that sick bastard Anthony Ivo's life for one.

And currently, were anyone to show up and witness the two training, they would see matching grins on the faces of the girls as both were greatly enjoying theirselves with one another. "This Ta-er al-Safar, is perhaps better then sex!" Nyssa told her Canary laughingly as the two traded blows with their staffs.

Sara laughed at her girlfriend's words. "Trust me Nyssa, nothing is better then sex!" That got a smirk from the dark haired woman in return.

"I suppose we shall soon see if that truly is a fact then." She responded in kind which only made the blonde girl laugh herself.

Nyssa got a devilish glint in her eyes as an idea formed in her mind and went in for a low sweep with her staff, seemingly intending on going for the knees, and just as she hoped, her Canary quickly moved to avoid it. Swinging around quickly with her staff, she managed to knock her opponent down with a sweep of the feet. "OOF!" Sara called out as she landed hard on her back, making Nyssa smirk in victory.

The victorious warrior got on her knees and leaned over Sara's face with that smirk still present. "Cheater!" Sara called out good naturedly.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. One must use means available to them in order to win." Nyssa responded in kind, though her words were teasing.

"You should kiss me to make it up to me then." Sara suggested with a smile on her face.

Earning a little laugh from the other. "I think that would be an excellent reward for my victory." Nyssa told her, and leaned down to claim said victory.

However fate wasn't about to let them have their moment as a League member came into the room. "Lady Nyssa, your father requests your presence in the Main Hall at once!"

Both girls huffed in annoyance at having their moment interrupted. "Guess you'll have to claim that reward later." Sara told her teasingly.

"Oh believe me Ta-er, I will be doing just that at the first opportunity presented to me." She informed her girlfriend in all seriousness. Something that made Sara smirk at her for.

Rising up to her feet and even extending a hand to Sara to get her up off the ground, an offer that Sara happily took even though it was better to get up on her own so as not to show weakness. But neither of the two had even really cared about that anymore when it was just the two of them and neither doubted their guest would even really bother to say anything since Nyssa's the daughter of the Demon's Head. Turning to the man and giving him a steely gaze, she addressed him. "I trust what you've witnessed here will remain only with you?" She was aware of her father's dislike of her relationship with Ta-er and did not wish to give him more more reason to be against it.

The man would have scoffed at that but didn't as he certainly didn't want to die. And besides, he honestly could care less if the Demon's Daughter mucked about with a woman. "Word of this will not come from me, I assure you of that Lady Nyssa." He decided to inform her.

Sensing no deception in the man's words, she gave a nod of approval of that and asked the next thing on her mind. "Do you know the reason for why my father requests me?" Sara found herself curious in that answer as well.

"No, I was only told to come and deliver his request to you."

 _Of course the big guy wouldn't make it that easy._  Sara reflected on in her head.

"Very well then, you may take your leave." The man bowed to her and went about his way.

"So commanding! Its hot!" Came the joking tone from Sara, making Nyssa smile at her.

"Well I'm happy you think so. Do you wish to come with me?"

Sara shrugged her shoulders. "Of course! What else would I want to do?" She asked, as after all, maybe a mission was being assigned and the two of them could take it together.

Nyssa nodded in appreciation and together the two went off in search of her father.  _My name once was Sara Lance, daughter of Quentin and Dinah Lance, and younger sister to Laurel. To them and the rest of the world, I am dead and have been so for nearly 3 years now. When I was brought to Nanda Parbat after being rescued, I essentially sold my soul to the Devil in order to stay alive and as a way to pay back their saving of me. Since then, I have become something else, a slowly darkening being known as Ta-er al-Safar. Warrior and Assassin of the League of Assassins._ Sara reflected to herself as she and Nyssa walked through out the temple of Nanda Parbat to reach Ra's Al Ghul.

And considering the size of Nanda Parbat, it only took them around 15 minutes to get to the Main Hall that was near the entrance doors of Nanda Parbat where Ra's himself was along with what looked to be a teenager of all things in a white soldier's outfit with black stripes going across the sleeves and a flag of some sort on the left arm around the shoulder standing by him with a grave expression on his face. The young teenager was Farhan himself! Ra's could also be seen holding a bag that Sara thought may be filled with possibly some form of coin currency.  _Hmm.. Payment for a mission maybe?_  Though the fact this was a kid in a soldier's uniform bothered her a little, but not as much as it should have.

_Another sign of the person I am becoming..._

Ra's soon noticed his daughter and her paramour and gave a nod to both of them. Though he wished his daughter had come alone instead of bringing the girl with her. But who knows, perhaps this task the boy had brought to him could potentially rid him of the girl and get his daughter to completely focus again on more important things. Yes, he is impressed with the Canary's remarkable progress but he still felt she didn't truly belong here and while he could just let her go. It wasn't something that was often done and he honestly had no desire to deal with his daughter's petty anger over the deed. "Ah, good of you to join us." He said politely, noting that the two looked to be rather sweaty. And from training it seems due to the staffs both still held in their hands.

 _Well, good to know my daughter isn't completely shirking her duties to fool around with her Canary._  He thought to himself begrudgingly.

Nyssa nodded at her father while Sara merely bowed her head to show respect to the man. "What is it you need of my presence father?" His daughter asked respectfully.

Pleased she decided to get on with why he requested her there he got to talking. "As you can see from this bag of coin in my hand, young Farhan here has come to us as a representative of his country to request aid in fighting back against invaders led by a man known as Asim Muhunnad. And considering the fact that young Farhan's ruler and I have no love for one another whatsoever, I find it odd he would even allow League members to step foot onto Khandaqian soil as he himself could swiftly end this threat."

 _Kahndaqian? That's a helluva new one on me._  Thought Sara and would ask Nyssa about it when they were next alone.

"The king has seen fit to only send out a hundred men from his army to the Southern border to aid the outposts there in trying to stop Asim. So far only two of the outposts remain intact from the onslaught and thus Farhan has been sent to request our aid in helping defeat the threat. Something I have agreed too, but in so doing my daughter, I wish for it to be investigated as to why the king of Kahndaq makes no move himself to drive off the threat of Asim and his more modern ways of warfare. If you or your men are able to find the cause while there, end it swiftly." The fact it would put the king in his debt would be a bonus for him that he could later exploit.

Nyssa bowed her head to her father's commands. "Do you wish it to be only Ta-er and I father?" She asked as she looked at the man and figured that she could bring her lover along for this task as well.

Ra's would have rolled his eyes but a man of his stature didn't do such things. "I believe it best if you bring not only her, but twenty of our best with the two of you. The strength in numbers will be advantegous I believe in ending Asim and his threat." As after all, his assassins were the most highly trained warriors in the world and not even some would be dictator could hope to match their level of training. Especially against the more modern means of warfare as lessons in that area had been pretty harsh as well. But damned well worth it in the end.

Before he or anyone else could speak however, Farhan spoke up in his native tongue demanding to know why he would have it ordered to spy on his king when the threat to focus on was Asim. Ra's merely responded in kind by telling him that this could be helpful in determining why the king wasn't doing anything. Seeing the truth of the matter, Farhan grudgingly accepted what he was told and promised to keep silent on that matter. Ra's merely nodded his appreciation to the boy.

Turning his attention back to his daughter and her paramour. "I give you the freedom to choose who else you take my daughter. Now go, and may you return with success. Farhan will also be accompanying you in order to guide you and your men to Kahndaq's capital city." Nyssa bowed to her father, prompting Sara to do the same and then the two walked away to start choosing who they were bringing with them.

 _A new assignment to take on, an assignment that could drag me further down in to the darkness that is slowly surrounding me. A darkness I know I could never bring around my family as it would horribly taint them. I'm sorry I can't come home and I hope you can forgive me for it and know that I love you all very much. But thankfully for now, I have Nyssa by my side for however long she's willing._  Her thoughts had led her to wanting to shed a tear, but she fought to keep it from happening. As she did not want to explain it to Nyssa and possibly be seen as showing weakness. She had no idea what was going to happen next, but she would do her damnedest to be ready for it.

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**Author's Notes: And here we go with Sara! Quite a bit of research went into this chapter as I wanted to try and be as close to things as I could get. Especially in other countries when it comes to language and military. Hopefully I accomplished that to some degree. In english, the Arabic dialogue seen here is: 'Farhan, warn the other outposts and the Capital!' 'No father!' 'No! Go and warn them!' Unfortunately I had to translate each word by theirselves in order to get it to work.**

**Thank you once again Naitch03 for the site you sent me too! So what awaits our fair Sara in the land of Kahndaq? Stay tuned to find out next time here on the What If? Channel! Enjoy, and R and R!**


	33. Of Canaries and Heirs Part 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Now let's roll on! Also a small bit of Chinese will be used in this since I couldn't exactly find an understandable version of a name I was looking for in Arabic.**

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It'd taken Sara, Nyssa, Farhan, and the chosen 20 Assassins nearly two days even with League resources to reach the Capital of Kahndaq. As the closest airport that would benefit them the most was the Cairo International Airport and would allow them to reach Kahndaq on the Western border. Thankfully the route to Shiruta was a single road that was decades old and looked like it had little maintenance done for it over the years. Which had made the trip to the Capital somewhat slow as they had to look out for pot holes and the like. Thankfully a League contact in Cairo had been able to acquire them a bus as a means of transportation. Which Sara had honestly found amusing at the thought of 22 deadly assassins riding around on a bus. Something even Nyssa had to find amusement in when she noticed her lover's amused smile on the way to Shiruta. During the wait to board the plane to Cairo, a news report had been seen involving Oliver Queen himiself, and when Nyssa noticed a look on Sara's face, not to mention softly muttering his name, she resolved to talk with her Canary about it.

A conversation that wound up happening on the plane as then and there it was time to board. For Sara, she honestly hadn't expected to have that kind of talk with her lover and even more so hadn't expected finding herself reassuring Nyssa that despite any lingering feelings for Ollie, her commitment is to her now and wasn't planning to change that anytime soon. Something the Demon's Heir found herself gratefully reassured on due to her own growing feelings for her Canary. Though the Heir to the Demon had to wonder what her Canary could see in a man who had to be committed to a Ward, something that had made Sara laugh a little and inform her that he likely wouldn't have gone into that willingly. Leaving Nyssa wondering the cause of that before putting it out of her mind to focus on her growing feelings for her Canary, and of the mission ahead of them.

The heat of Cairo and of Kahndaq had kept the masked Assassins aside from Nyssa and Sara from covering their faces up or even putting on their gear just yet as none of them wanted to risk the chances of heat stroke due to the temperatures and be useless because of it. Sara herself was thankful that the windows of the bus could come down since there was no functional air conditioning to be found on their transport. Upon finally arriving into Shiruta, Sara quickly noticed how old world the place looked despite the more modern looking areas of the city. The fact she didn't see anyone in rags or even homeless made her think that perhaps the one who ruled this place actually give a crap. Though she did wonder why the women of the place weren't being forced to cover up like a lot of others were supposed to in Middle Eastern countries. Farhan being from the area spoke up by telling her they were a bit more Liberal then most other Middle Eastern countries.

That and their King found it a bit foolish that women were forced to hide themselves. That made Sara, and even Nyssa's respect go up for this man a bit. The driver of the bus soon brought the travelers to a stop at the doors of the palace itself with two gigantic statues near by on opposite sides of the busy area that led up to the palace. The Canary had to admit it made Nanda Parbat look tame in comparison, not that she'd ever say that aloud however. Farhan got up from the front seat opposite of Sara and Nyssa's and began to speak to them. "Mistanni hina lamma I 'itkallim maAa il 'asr haeris." Nyssa nodded her understanding and soon the young soldier was off the bus.

Their wait was not a long one however as moments later Farhan came back up on to the bus and nodded at the two women to show that it had gone well. Sara, taking her cue from Nyssa when the woman stood up, also stood up and began to follow her out, with the other assassins soon following as well. The guards opened the doors to them and Sara found herself thinking this would be one of those epic moments from a movie complete with a soundtrack. Once past the doors, they were greeted by an aging man with long hair that was a mix of brunette and gray in a brown robe. "Greetings travelers I am Elias, and welcome to Shiruta, I will be your guide here in the Palace." That made Sara raise her eyebrows a bit as she was honestly expecting the guy to be speaking the language of the people.

He must have seen her reaction however and addressed her confusion with a smile on his face. "I was originally born in America my dear, but during the late 80's I decided to come here and get in touch with the roots of my family. And thus, have been here ever since and in the process became something of a historian as well." Which, if he was honest with himself, was a big clue into the fact that the life of a historian was not going to leave him be since he already was one in America prior to coming to Kahndaq. He was also the lead historian and his bunch were in charge to ensure that the people of Kahndaq stayed aware of their history so that it would not be lost to time itself.

She nodded at that, and gave him a smile to show her thanks. Though she knew the nod should have been the end of it but she couldn't help but show her appreciation. Besides the guy was pretty much her elder and it wouldn't do to be disrespectful! Nyssa was also appreciative as knowledge was always a good thing to have in her world. "Come then my friends, for the King awaits your arrival." The historian told them and began to walk with the others soon following along, though Nyssa and Sara were the closest behind him on opposite sides.

"Do you perhaps have information about the man who is currently plaguing your country?" Nyssa asked, for any knowledge he had as a historian would definitely be handy.

Elias looked towards her as they continued to walk. "Oh yes indeed I do actually. Asim was once a native of Kahndaq until one day he tried to usurp control of the country for himself. However, he was forced out by our King's power and took with him those who were foolishly swayed to his cause. He hasn't been seen since then until in recent times and we are unclear as to where he has gained the resources he has to effectively combat our men in the South."

"If the threat is as worrisome to involve us, why hasn't the King himself done anything to stop Asim and his invasion? From all I've heard, he wouldn't be willing to let it stand for very long." Sara had to admit that her girl had a damned good point.

Their guide could be seen nodding at that. "You are correct my dear, ordinarily he wouldn't let it stand and would have crushed it before it could get truly started. The cause of his lack of action is worrisome indeed and has led to a few believing him to be under another's influence. Possibly Asim's doing, though this all is currently speculation."

Nyssa considered that as they walked, wondering what could make a man as apparently great as the Kahndaqian ruler fall under another's influence. "You have my word Elias, we will stop not only the threat to your country, but we will also find the cause of the King's delay in acting or die trying."

Elias stopped at those words and turned to her in slight shock. "Well my dear, let us hope it does NOT come to that." Turning his attention back towards their destination, he started to walk again while Sara raised an eyebrow at the Heir and getting a similar action in return.

 _Leave it to my girl to get all serious. So hot!_  Our fair Canary couldn't help that thought from happening even if it was largely inappropriate considering it could get them killed. But if it did, then well, they clearly sucked as Assassins.

Amongst the League members was a girl who'd been with the League since the age of 12 ever since Al-Owal himself came across her shivering little self on the streets of China and immediately finding himself not liking the situation the young lady was in. Though he could never quite explain why he had been drawn to her the way he did, but never the less he brought her back with him to Nanda Parbat and adopted her as his own. When Ra's first questioned him and learned of the situation, the Demon's Head came to the conclusion that perhaps it was meant to be and looked forward to seeing the young girl go from a shivering homeless child to one that would easily bring about death to those as needed. She would get her first opportunity to take on a mission at the age of 15 and succeeded all expectations much to the sheer joy of Al-Owal.

However, its been considered that if he's her father then Ra's is pretty much her grandfather despite him telling the girl that calling him that is inappropriate, but it never seemed to stop her however. She wound up becoming good friends with Nyssa and later Sara when she came to them and the three solidified a bond between themselves soon after. Even the teamwork they had proved to be a thing of beauty. Who is this girl you ask? Well she was once known as Adrianna Tomaz but was re-born as Tuō mǎ, though the name was of Chinese origin, Owal himself felt it appropriate. She also had a rather interesting ability in being able to sense unusual things that had served her pretty well a few times when it came to particularly deadly traps that were a bit in the way of unusual themselves.

And thanks in part to the Priestess she eventually learned her ability allowed her to sense magic and learned how to be more in tune with it thanks to the Priestess. And right now, the girl's ability was in near overdrive due to the magical energies of the place. It honestly made her shiver somewhat with a giddy feeling along with it over how much there was. She was honestly wishing she could do a little girl talk with Nyssa and Ta-er over this but she could wait to do so until a more appropriate time. Soon, they all entered a large room that was noticably void of any guards, something Nyssa found to be very strange for all rulers should have guards posted for protection. And while there people doing various things, there was but one man sitting in a large chair with light pouring down on him from the roof as he slouched a bit to the side with his hand under his chin.

His outfit from what could be seen consisted of a black outfit with golden gauntlets covering his forerms and golden boots to go with it. His black hair was near shaven as well. Elias turned back towards the Assassins while moving over to the side so that he could properly introduce them to the King. "I, Elias, Historian of Kahndaq, introduce the League of Assasins to our beloved King known as Black Adam himself!"

 _So this is the big cheese huh? Doesn't seem like much to me._  Sara thought to herself, though she knew full well by now that appearances could be damned deceiving.

"Hmmph, thank you for the introduction my old friend. And Farhan, I see you've returned safely with friends." Black Adam said as he stood up to his full height, revealing a well built figure and a golden lightning bolt going down the middle of his shirt, along with a golden belt around his waist.

 _Holy damn is that a lot of beef!_  Thought Sara and she hoped she wasn't possibly drooling over his physique.

Tuo ma was likewise thinking the same thing from where she was. Farhan immediately came to the front and bowed to his King. Black Adam looked down at the young soldier for a moment before speaking. "Rise young warrior, King I may be, but a warrior should never bow to a fellow warrior." Farhan looked up at him in slight confusion, honestly not expecting words like that from his king.

One of the main things Black Adam had done since coming back into power in the 20's after being entombed for centuries was ensure that all the peoples of his nation could understand, write, and speak English, along with other languages their country spoke. Being able to understand and speak a vast majority of languages thanks to the nature of his abilities had made this doable, even going so far as to teach others so that they could pass it on. Which pretty much made it so that he didn't necessarily have to speak another language if he didn't particularly want too. This, along with ensuring that everyone in Kahndaq had an education was a driven focused goal he had so as to ensure that no one was left behind in his country as he had no desire for outsiders to look down on his people negatively.

When he had originally returned and took control of his country, it was in fact Asim's grandfather who had been the ruler of the nation. And he knew this was the reason that Asim had tried to take back control of what he foolishly believed was his birthright that was denied to him. Black Adam had found himself wishing a time or two that he had been more vigilante in ensuring the fool had gone to the afterlife the first time around. Though why he hadn't done anything now bothered even him as he had been busy for weeks now in trying to rid himself of a mysterious voice that was doing its level best to gain control of him. It had been so much of a nuisance that he was failing to get certain things done and the frustration he was feeling was beginning to mount. He often wondered if the voice was working with Asim and longed for the day he could find the cause and utterly destroy it.

 _ **Ha ha ha ha! You will NEVER be free of me! Your power WILL be mine!**_  The mysterious voice told him tauntingly, making him feel very annoyed right then and barely keeping himself from growling.

Realizing that Farhan had yet to stand up, he looked at him and the boy seemed to finally get the hint as he rose up quickly and gave him a bow of the head, which was gained him a nod in return. Farhan quickly told him he had brung the outsiders as asked and even mentioned it had been something of an experience for him since he'd never been outside of Kahndaq before. His comment drew a short laugh from his King surprisingly enough and the older man laid a hand on his shoulder. "I trust the experience was truly rewarding then young warrior. One should always expand their horizons." If only to later use it to your advantage anyway.

"It kaen an Aageeb chibra -i rabb." Farhan replied quietly as he was not looking to somehow possibly offend his king.

"That is all we can truly hope for then my boy. Now, why not allow my servant to take you to a room to stay in until it is time to return to the Southern border." Adam told him while indicating the servant in question.

Farhan, getting that his King was pretty much giving something of a command, looked toward the servant girl and walked towards her so that she could take him to his room. Which, when he thought about it, would be a good thing to do since he was in need of a bath after being out in the sun. As he and the servant walked off, Adam turned his attention to the Assassins and Elias. Giving a nod to his old friend, the historian walked off to do other business whle his King spoke with their guests. "It seems even the mighty members of the League of Assassins can't even withstand the Kahndaqian heat." Adam told them mockingly, making it clear right then of how he thought of them.

Nyssa glared at him for his slight against them. "You would do well to mind your words when speaking of the League." She told him coldly.

Adam gave her his attention after that. "And you dear girl would remember to mind your own words in MY home. Daughter of Ra's Al Ghul or not you will respect me, oh yes I know who you are as I have my own sources even within your precious League." Hearing that was something Nyssa honestly did not like one bit and would be sure to inform her father of that once she had returned home.

Black Adam had done this sometime back in the 80's after Ra's himself had come and tried to recruit him to his cause, something the long lived King had rebuffed instantly as he would serve no one. The rejection had not sit well with Ra's and the man had ordered his men to go after him for daring to reject him. Needless to say, it had ended badly for those he sent and Adam had personally found his way to Ra's with the heads of those men after forcing them to speak of the location to Nanda Parbat. That particular visit would have destroyed the whole of Nanda Parbat if Ra's hadn't of agreed to leave things be, resulting in their mutual dislike of one another since then. As the Demon's Head had no desire to see his long time home reduced to rubble even if he could always re-build it. Adam started to pace in front of the group with his hands clasped behind his back and a scowl on his face.

"Now, you are here to assist my men in defending the Southern border and eliminating the threat that fool Asim dares to bring here. I would have already handled this myself but alas, times have been troubling as of late for me due to a voice that dares to plague me! One I will see ended soon enough I can promise you all that much. As it is, the gifts to me provided by the Gods Aton and Mehen shouldn't have even allowed this voice to have such a presence near me. And the fact it has anyway troubles me." It troubled him greatly as a matter of fact that this voice could somehow be somewhat over-riding two of his Gods.

Though his powers had initially came from the old man known as Shazam, he later learned the real true source the old man drew them from was several members of the Gods themselves. Shu who provided him great stamina, Heru who gave him great speed, Amon who provided greath strength, Zehuti who provided him wisdom, something that proved very beneficial when it came to things like languages. Aton provided him the power to fly, even enhanced his already impressive superhuman physical capabilities, and magical resistance against massive amounts of magic spells and attacks. This aspect of his abilities when used with the magic word of 'Shazam!' can allow him to time travel or to travel through other dimensions, and when he utters that word, he can even dodge the lightning bolt it brings down that would normally turn him back into his regular mortal self known as Teth-Adam. Something he can even use against enemies if he so wishes.

And finally there was Mehen, though primarily psychological and spirital, Mehen's courage endows Black Adam with superhuman amounts of inner strength, willpower, discipline, and resolve that he can draw in times of hopelessness, and possibly great fighting skills. Mehen's gifts leave him constantly supported by a harmonious presence of good will and unflinching courage that allows him to never back down from anything. Mehen also makes him resistant to telepathy and mind control, which was thankfully what had kept him so far from being fully controlled by that damned infernal voice. Mehen also provides a certain degree to his physical invulnerability to harm. Together the gifts provided to him by these Gods and that of Shazam granted him immortality. But if something was going on that was causing the gifts of Aton and Mehen to not be as powerful, then it could only mean troubling news. And he would make sure to investigate it as soon as he possibly could.

Adam had been born 5,000 years ago during the ancient times of Egypt when Pharaohs ruled the land and the Gods were worshipped by the peoples. Back then he'd been a teenager known as Teth-Adam and a prince as well until a wizard named Shazam saw fit to choose him to be the protector of Egypt. Things were well for the mighty protecter and he even gained himself a family during the years he served as Egypt's protector, as well as Kahndaq's. Even becoming its ruler as well. But as most good things do, it all came to end when the old wizard's evil daughter Blaze and her ally Ahk-ton came and slaughtered his family, even burning all of Kahndaq and causing the majority of it to be a desert in the process. Greatly angered by this, Black Adam sought revenge and went through anyone he had to go through in order to get to the two. Though it took him nearly 30 years to do it, he eventually succeeded but drew the ire of Shazam himself for his actions.

Realizing what he had done, and knowing that the old man couldn't take back his gifts, he allowed himself to be entombed for the rest of his life until the fool known as Dr. Sivana uncovered him in the 1920's in some mis-begotten attempt to control him. The good doctor however didn't live to regret it when the awakened warrior killed him shortly afterwards once he learned why the man had awakened him. Once he was done with that and not seeing the old man anywhere at all, he left the location of his tomb and took off in the direction of Kahndaq, the state it was in thanks to the one who ruled it anagered the ancient warrior and so he took matters into his own hands. The results had proven bloody as many died in his attempts to oust Muhunnad, but oust him he had and took back his rightful place as King of Kahndaq. The actions drew the attention of the old man, though this time he did not wind up being entombed again as the old man felt he could be trusted not to do as he did previously so many years ago. Though he did warn him that should he cause such great suffering again, he would come for him and do more then just entomb him again.

Before anymore could be said however, a woman's voice could be heard amongst the Assassins. "This room just doesn't feel right." Those words drew in Black Adam's attention and making Sara slightly worried since she knew who had said that. Nyssa promised herself to have words with the girl for speaking out of turn if the man before them didn't end her for it.

"Hmm? Who speaks in such a way?" He enquired, finding himself rather curious and instantly causing everyone to move away from the source as they all looked at Tuo ma.

For Adam, the sight of the girl who spoke up had transfixed him as she was quite the beauty. The girl had apparently realized what happened and lowered her head in shame as she had been taught better then that. But she couldn't help it though cause of how the room felt! The magically empowered warrior slowly walked up to her as everyone else watched with baited breath, coming up to her and seeing that he had a few inches over her, he put a finger on her chin and gently raised her head so that their eyes could see into one another's. He could see a touch of fear but also that she was not about to back down from him. Something he could admire actually. "Your words intrigue me. You somehow feel something is wrong in this room?"

"Yes, yes I can. Something just  _feels wrong_  in this room." She informed him honestly while wanting to hold herself as the feeling just made her skin crawl.

 _ **No! She can not be sensing anything! It should not be possible! This damned girl could ruin everything!**_  Adam could admit he'd be just fine with that possibility.

"How is this possible for you?" As even with his gifts he couldn't feel anything as she seemed too.

Looking into his eyes as she spoke, she told him its just part of a gift she's had for as long as she could remember. Tuō mǎ couldn't help but stare into those eyes and she got the feeling that the man was feeling the same way. "That is very intriguing, perhaps you could be the key to finding the cause of that which plagues me. Tell me, what is your name?"

"Tuō mǎ your highness. And I would be willing to assist in helping you in this matter" She informed him as Nyssa, Sara, and the others looked on at the sight before them.

For Sara and Nyssa, they were both darned curious over this turn of events as it seemed their friend was quite possibly catching the love bug! And so was the King by the looks of it.  _Oh boy, Al-Owal's not gonna be happy a man is interested in his little girl!_  And honestly, Sara wanted to see that particular conversation between the man and his daughter! Even better if she got to see him tell off the guy for making eyes at his little girl! Though she kind of had her doubts about this whole Gods thing the big guy was talking about.

"I believe your assistance will prove valuable my lady." Adam wasn't sure what it was but he couldn't help but be drawn to this girl and if it wasn't for Ra's' daughter doing a small cough to get their attention, he likely would have kept staring into Tuō mǎ's eyes.

The two quickly stepped away from one another as if they had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. "Ah, yes, my apologies. Perhaps we shall stop here for the time being and my servants can show you to your rooms. If you wish to explore, let someone know so that they can show you around. But I will say that you should rest up well, for tomorrow at first light, you head out to the Southern border." He said the last bit while looking right at Nyssa, who nodded her understanding. And soon, they were all off to their rooms. Though Tuō mǎ had to admit she wasn't quite wanting to leave just yet.

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**Author's Notes: Holy Hot Pockets did this turn into a long one! But hopefully despite that, you folks enjoyed it! First bit of Arabic in this is basically 'Stay here while I speak with the palace guards.' Second bit is 'It was an interesting experience my lord.' Although oddly enough there didn't seem to be an Arabic version of it or an. Adrianna is an actual character from the DC comics too and anything related to Black Adam is of the comics too though I've slightly twisted it some. As I have with Adrianna. Thank you Wikipedia! And as you may know by now, this is likely my last update for awhile (hopefully only a short period of time) due to some error my computer keeps experiencing that causes it to shut off and then restart.**

**And if it hadn't of been for a copy winding up made of this chapter, I would have lost everything considering one of the shut off/restarts screwed up the original file. Thank God for that bit of luck! R and R!**


	34. Of Canaries and Heirs Part 3

**Disclaimer: Thank God for a brand new laptop! Oh and uhh... I own nothing but what you see here. Enjoy!**

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After the first rays of light came about, Nyssa, Sara, their fellow Assassins aside from Tuo Ma, Farhan, and a hundred more of Black Adam's men rode off by horse into the South to reach the two remaining outposts and help put an end to Asim's invasion. The plan was to reach the second outpost and remain there to hold off the invaders, however, the sight they were greeted too after several hours of riding by horse and passing through the final outpost along the way did not sit well with them. As their intended destination was under attack, forcing them all to go into action much sooner than anticipated. Thankfully the rumored tank hadn't been there for it either as things were already intense as it was upon their arrival. Upon their arrival, their unexpected aide helped those still alive amongst those stationed there turn back the tide against the invaders. They were even able to capture one of the invaders and interrogated him for awhile but unfortunately for them, he seemed to know nothing and was put to death afterwards. After ending his life, the bodies of the invaders that had been left behind were buried outside of the outpost about a mile away from it with no marker to identify the grave site.

Something that had been Nyssa's idea actually as there was no need to give them any respect. The Kahndaqian lives lost however were burned in a funeral pyre as a way to show them respect. Nyssa was even heard reciting a prayer for them as well, something that had given those of the outpost and from the Capital a new level of respect for the woman. A new captain also had to be chosen from those left of the outpost after the loss of the other due to him having the highest rank out of the bunch.. And while the new one was something of a grumpy man, he was somewhat easy to get along with. Something Sara was thankful for as she had a feeling Nyssa wouldn't have put up with the guy's crap and likely have done something permanent to him. He also had a bad habit for mixing his English and Turkish together when talking. Something the League bunch, Farhan, and the soldiers they brought with them to here were finding out for theirselves as he went on about how he had told the King a long awhile ago that he needed to update their armory. Sara had a feeling this wasn't a new thing for those stationed here judging by the eye rolls and the like they were giving him.

Hell they were probably thinking 'We know!' repeatedly as well, the thought of that possibility honestly amused her. She was tempted to ask one of them if they were thinking it but didn't think that would be a smart idea. Mostly because she hated a certain look that she got from Nyssa anytime she did something in public that wasn't particularly good for business as the Heir once put it, and it tended to make her feel like a guilty child too. Though she quickly learned that sort of thing was liked in private.  _Hmm... Maybe if I get one of these guys alone? Nyssa wouldn't be able to find out I had that sort of fun! Well... Hopefully! After all, I may be a League girl now, but I'm still one to misbehave._  She thought to herself with a mischevious glint in her eye as she watched the older man continue to rant in her and her fellow Assassins' direction.

"And yani, I say icin bizim King that we gerek güncellendi weapons! Ancak he no dinlemak!" He spat out displeasedly while throwing his arms around in disgust before dropping them to his sides. Sara honestly just couldn't help but find it funny.

Nyssa however didn't find it as funny and stepped forward to him. "Perhaps my friend, he will listen to good advice like yours in the future to avoid having your fellow soldiers being beaten so easily by a better weapon." Sara had to nod her head to that.

 _Seriously, who has their military use rifles as their only gun source with blades at the end of it? This isn't the olden days you know!_  Though she had a feeling her mom would love the whole thing considering her interests and all that.

The new captain gave Nyssa a toothy smile at her. "Yes! Most agreed! Simdi let us konusma of hazırlıkları!" The Heir gave a nod of agreement to that and everyone gathered together to discuss their next moves in preparation for what will be very likely another soon to come attack.

**Meanwhile, back in Shiruta**

Now you might be wondering why exactly Tuō mǎ had stayed behind in Shiruta, and well, the reason for that is down to the fact that during the previous night, Black Adam had come to the room she was staying in with Nyssa and Ta-er and asked if she would be willing to stay behind in the Capital and help him locate the source of his troubles. Initially, Nyssa had been reluctant after having witnessed the scene between the two earlier on but in the end gave her permission to stay behind. Something the good King himself thanked the Heir for while ignoring the smirk on Ta-er's face. Something Nyssa had to elbow her for when she finally saw her doing that. And currently, the lovely Tuō mǎ could be seen walking along a balcony high up on the palace as she went about in search of what could be the troubles the King was being plagued by.

Though she was somewhat taking her time about it as she knew this sort of thing couldn't be rushed. Unfortunately she had yet to feel the bad vibes she got in the throne room the previous night, which made her wonder a bit if perhaps it was possibly in close vicinity to the King himself.  _Would make sense afterall since it seems so invested in being a menace to him._

She also still couldn't get over the reaction she'd had the previous night with him as it'd been unlike anything she had felt before. Something Ta-er had taken great delight in explaining to the slightly confused girl on what had happened, with Nyssa doing a bit of eye rolling over it all as the Heir still wasn't used to this sort of thing that girls apparently did that her Canary called 'girl talk.' The adopted daughter of Al-Owal had to admit that Shiruta was a beautiful place as she looked on at all she could see from her spot on the balcony.  _One could love living here._  She thought to herself.

Lost in her thoughts as she continued to observe the great view, she did not notice Black Adam coming up behind her.  _A wondrous sight before me, one would think she to be a Queen looking on at what she rules with her King if they were to see her like this. Bah! What am I saying!? I sound like some damned school boy!_  He groused to himself, but he couldn't help but have such thoughts ever since he had seen her and then gazed as long as he had into her eyes the previous night.

_**Yes, you do sound like some damned school boy. There are more important matters to deal with. Such as renouncing your Gods and allowing ME to be your source of power. For what's yours is mine as it should be!** _

Adam growled softly at that so as not to disturb the girl.  _I think not you damned annoyance! Now, be gone!_  He commanded, though he doubted the annoyance would listen.

After his arrival there, Tuō mǎ had started sensing that unpleasant presence again and tried to concentrate on where it was coming from. Though she was having little luck since it seemed to be rather strong, but she would prove victorious no matter what it took! She knew though she wasn't alone despite the other person's attempts at being quiet. "Greetings, if I am not allowed here, then my apologies." She said aloud while not bothering to look behind her.

Despite himself, Adam's eyes widened in slight shock.  _Hah! She's been trained very well!_  He thought to himself in admiration.

"No worries my lady, you are just fine here." He informed her as he walked up beside her.

"Despite the many times I have seen this view from a location such as this, or even in flight, it never gets old for me." Tuō mǎ nodded at that while wondering how he could see it while in flight since aircraft wouldn't likely be all that good at getting to see a view like this.

"It is a wonderful view, so I can honestly see why it wouldn't get old. One could likely lead a strike from here with the proper equipment."

 _ **Hah! Why do such a thing when with power such as yours you could easily level the entire city to stop a pest problem!**_  Adam growled over that as leveling his beloved city was the last thing he wanted to do.

The growling finally made the girl look at him and much to her surprise, there was a slight concern for him too.  _I am League! I should not be showing concern at all!_  Especially since he's basically a client!

"Problems?" She enquired, figuring it the best way to go for now.

Adam only sighed in frustration. "This damned voice and the troubles of the South." His confiding in her made her want to rub on his arm in support but forced herself to resist the urge, wishing she hadn't of listened to Ta-er the previous night about instant attractions and the like.

"Have no worries, we shall uncover the source behind your troubles and then end it swiftly." She told him dead seriously and was satisfied to see him nod.

He turned to look at her. "Indeed we shall my lady, indeed we shall! And I shall greatly enjoy ending it in the most painful way possible if I have anything to say about it. Now, what say you to lunch?"

His question had helped her to come to the realization that she was actually in fact pretty hungry as she hadn't ate since breakfast. "I say let's do it." A warrior needed to keep her strength up after all! And if it helps her find the source of the problems, then even better.

"Hah! Very well then, let us see what the chef has prepared for Lunch this day, and then you can get back to the fine business of searching for the pest!" She gave him a small smile at that and allowed him to lead her to the dining room as she didn't want to appear rude. Even though she knew she could likely take him if he got too unruly with her. Ah, if she only knew!

**At The First Outpost**

After Asim's men had taken out the men stationed at this Outpost, Asim himself and along with the rest of his men moved in and quickly made themselves at home. Thus pretty much making it his official base of operations now that he had a foot into the country that he and his family should be ruling and no one else. He also had those who took out the other Outposts stay in those as well to ensure they kept their holds on them so as not to make it easy for Black Adam's men to take back. Currently Asim was waiting for a report on the latest news, news he was most certainly not going to be happy about once he heard it. It was then that one of his men came into where he was and from the sight of him, it seemed he'd recently seen battle. "Ah, are you here to deliver me good news then?" The one Asim served had made it a point that he knew how to speak and understand English. Especially since the majority of his men preferred to speak it too. Though Asim hoped to one day rid himself of the one he was forced to serve, for no ruler should have to serve another!

The soldier gulped and the sight of it made the other man narrow his eyes. "Well!? Speak up!" He demanded impatiently.

The newcomer had only been with the organization that Asim served for nearly a year now and moments like this always scared the ever loving crap out of him since he was never really quite sure if it was going to mean his death right then and there. And he fervently hoped he'd still be living after delivering the news he had. "Y-yes sir! I unfortunately have to inform you that we failed to take the second to last Outpost due to unexpected assistance from the Capital. Though some of the new comers wore all black and fought like nothing I've ever seen before." He finally told the man and held his breath, waiting nervously for what could be his final day on this Earth.

Muhunnad seethed a bit in anger over the news he'd just gotten. He abruptly stood up and walked around the table he'd been sitting behind to come up to the soldier, who had to fight against taking a step back at the other man's movements. Asim paced back and forth in front of him for several moments before looking at him. "You say these new comers wore all black and fought like you've never seen before?" He gained a nod in return as an answer.

"Damn! Its been on good authority that the fool who dares to rule MY country has no love for whom I suspect the new comers to be. Hmmph, perhaps he's actually frightened by my invasion force and is resorting to something like this. Do you know what this means!?" He asked with a scary looking smile on his face.

The unfortunate individual shook his head in the negative in a quick fashion while sweat trailed down the side of his face. "It means my young soldier that WE are close at hand to VICTORY!" And then he laughed, delighted at the prospect of final victory while not giving a damn over the new comers and whom they might be. For he and his men had the superior advantage.

After having his moment, he took another look at the one who informed him of the news. "Stop being such a wuss boy. I won't kill you if that's what you fear me doing. No, this time you are fortunate to live. Now, go and rest a bit. For you will be joining the others in an attack on the Outpost you and the others you were with at midnight tonight!" While the soldier was grateful as Hell that he wasn't about to be dead on the ground, the crazed gleam he could see in his leader's eyes was highly worrisome.

 _I have a feeling of foreboding doom in my gut._  He thought to himself worriedly.

Asim looked at him annoyedly after realizing the man was still there. "Well!? What are you waiting for!? GO!" He bellowed at him, startling the unfortunate soldier into taking off like a bat out of Hell.

**Later that night around Midnight**

Sara had volunteered to be one of the ones to take night watch at one of the towers, much to the surprise of Nyssa. Though the Heir was a bit happy her Canary was taking initiative in such a way, something she hoped her father would be happy over when he heard of it. And after three hours of night watch, Sara had to admit to herself that she was bored out of her damned mind!  _Good gravy! I will never volunteer for something like this again! Well, then again that amazing kiss Nyssa gave me earlier might make me do it again if I got another one like that._  She thought to herself with a little smile on her face.

 _You know, I never ever thought I'd wind up doing something like this. I mean who would!? Damned hormones and feelings, Ollie and I's luck was always bound to run out and its certainly done that in spades._ If Laurel ever knew just how far back things between her and Ollie had been going on she would never speak with either one of them again.

_I kept telling Ollie to man up and end things with her. But nooo he just had to be_ _an idiot_ _and do things the hard way. But damn if I can't deny the good times he and I had. Thing is though, am I worthy of her forgiveness? Or am I only worried about it because she and everyone else knows now that Ollie and I hooked up when he got on the Gambit and I went with him?_

Her musings unfortunately had kept her from noticing that they were being approached from the outside by a group with bad intentions. Several members of said group had even managed to sneak inside the Outpost and take out several of those watching their direction while one of them was even silently making his way towards her in order to kill her. However, fortune seemed to smile on her when the would be killer's foot steps caused a creaking noise to happen on the wood, instantly alerting her to his presence. Seeing that he was caught, he went in for the attack, but was quickly taken down and out of the world of the living. She was soon attacked by the other three invaders and ended them in quick succession.  _And my soul blackens even more, but I'll be damned if I die here by the hands of a few assholes._  She thought to herself as she quickly sounded the alarm to warn everyone else they were under attack.

Sara then quickly jumped down to the ground below the watch tower just in time as her previous position went up in flames in a very noisy way.  _Great, they got means of explosives. How delightfully fantastic!_ She grumbled to herself while wishing she had access to a bow even though it would be somewhat hard to see who she was aiming at, but she figured she'd get at least a small bit of success at any rate.

A boom could then be heard at the gates their enemy was at and Sara figured that perhaps they were using a battering ram to get in. Though she wondered why they didn't just use explosives instead to blow the doors to Hell and get in quickly. She did notice however that several were making use of their rifles and even bows to try and take out some of their enemy. Quickly making her way towards the doors to await her enemies, she stood there a good distance away with bo staff in hand and her special tools ready to be dropped down her sleeve and into her hand at a moment's notice to be used on those who dared to attack her and the others on such a lovely night. "Ta-er!" The sound of her new name caused her to turn her head to the side, knowing that the one who called her was Nyssa herself.

As she did this, the invaders finally busted down the door in a more explosive manner.  _Well, I guess I did ask for that one didn't I?_

Nyssa came to stand beside her, along with the Captain who was shouting orders at everybody else. The three of them at the ready with weapons out and Farhan soon joining them as chaos pretty much began to rain down upon them from all around as League and Kahndaqian fought side by side against the invaders. Sara and Nyssa stared at one another for a moment before nodding at one another in some sort of silent agreement. And then with battle cries they launched into battle against the first attackers who quickly made their way in to the Outpost. An interesting thing about Sara's bo staff is that one end of it had been somwhat modified to have a very sharpened blade attached to it, thus enabling her to effectively slice and dice someone while also knocking out someone's teeth if she so wanted with the other end.  _Time to kick ass and probably not take names!_ She was gonna earn her spot once again tonight for damned sure!

She and the other 3 were soon surrounded by the enemy and they fiercly engaged them, amongst the attackers was the unfortunate fellow who had spoken with Asim from earlier in the day. His misfortune continued as his opponent was Nyssa and he was not faring too well at all. He could tell his opponent was a woman but she was wearing a veil to hide her face and it made him wonder if she was some sort of Black Widow. A Black Widow he would do his damnedest to squash before she could do it to him in return. "Little girls like you should be at home waiting on the man to return home." He told her mockingly as they fought.

"I wait for no man." She informed him coldy as she cut into his arm with a strike of her sword. More determined then previously now to end the little smart mouth's life.

"A pity then, perhaps I shall be the one to teach you your place." Asim may scare the ever loving Hell out of him, but no woman could do that however. Power over a woman was a great feeling as far as he was concerned.

 _He tries to goad me, but he will fail._  And surely enough, the fool made a mistake against her and her blade was soon in his gut and he gave her a wide eyed look of surprise and shock over it.

Pulling the blade out and looking at him with an air of superiority about her, she kicked him to the ground and left him to fight another as he laid there on the ground.  _Ugh... A curse on that whore! And a curse on Asim as well!_  Were his last thoughts before death claimed him.

The Captain and Farhan continued to fight side by side surprisingly well despite not having known one another before until today. The good Captain was also apparently enjoying the fight he was getting more than what Farhan was. The whole thing made the boy wonder how in the Hell he could enjoy it all as much as he did and hoped he wouldn't be that crazy in his own old age. Three other Assassins came to join Sara and Nyssa and helped the two women push their way out of the destroyed doors to battle their enemies in order to prevent them from making their way in.  _If I live past this, I'll never complain about boredom again!_  The lovely Canary thought as she fought and killed every opponent who dared to go against her.

Sara would never know what prompted her to do it but she would always think it was bad ass even if nobody else agreed. As she approached her next opponents, she started to speak. "There came a knocking at my door, a knocking that of which I did not appreciate, for it was quite loud and I'd wished for some peace and quiet. Yet you knocked so ever insistently, even barging in uninvited." As she spoke, her voice took on a haunting quality to it as she faught against those came upon her.

"The night was a quiet one, a cool wind blowing against my face as I observed from my spot on high, such things I wished to enjoy, but your knocking and your barging in uninvited laid ruin to such hopes. And now I take umbrage with thee and a price must be exacted from thyself. Quoth the Canary nevermore." One of the three League members that was still near her grew a bit alarmed over the words she had spoken as even he had to admit it was creepy. That alarm he felt nearly ended him but he managed to avoid certain death by providing his own take on the subject to the one who tried it on him.

The sudden yell of "TANKS!" helped Sara to know that they were pretty much screwed then. But she wasn't about to tuck tail and run now.

She rolled out of the way just in time to see a tank's shell blow the ever loving crap out of a section of the Outpost's wall. Unfortunately this happened to be on a corner of it and caused the watch tower there to crumble down into the new hole, whether or not anyone was still up there she wasn't sure of however. Grabbing one of her special devices and telling the League member who'd been near her when he heard her speaking to come with her so that she could deliver a little present to one of the tanks.  _They probably got night vision in those things since they willingly brought those suckers here at night._ She thought as they took off in the direction of one of the Renault FT tanks that could be somewhat seen thanks to the bright moonlight coming down on them.

The two fought side by side until they had gotten pretty close to the tank, which was foolishly left unguarded. But she supposed that perhaps they didn't think additional support would be needed.  _Good news for me, bad news for their dumbasses._

"Qunbila! Would you be so kind as to assist me in opening the door up?" She asked with a smile, and the man then had a good idea of what she was about to do.

He was so named because of his knowledge in explosives and had even come up with the explosive idea for Sara's screamer device. Something that had definitely come in handy quite a few times and would do so again. Even though she knew it would be unlikely to blow the tank up, but it would at the least kill those inside. "Would be my pleasure Ta-er al-Safar." He rumbled to her and quickly climbed atop the tank, with her close behind.

Opening the top of the tank, Sara quickly threw in the device. "Hello and goodbye boys!" Qunbila quickly shut it and the two jumped off and ran away from the tank.

Smoke could be seen coming from the tank now and the two considered that a success. Then, much to their shock, it exploded! The two looked at one another in stunned disbelief as neither of them had honestly expected it to blow up. "Win for us?" She asked.

"Yes, I'd say so." He replied with a shrug before punching out an oncoming opponent and then reaching down to slice his throat with a knife.

"Works for me." And then whacked the side of her bo staff that didn't have a blade attached to it right into the gut of an attacker and then using it bash in his head pretty hard. Even if it didn't kill him, it would pretty much ensure he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

"Strange thing though." He called out as they fought several more opponents.

Sara looked at him before dodging another attack. "What's that!?" And then sliced into a soldier and getting a scream of pain from the guy.

"Renault FT's have not been in use since 1949! So it is very strange to see them being used here in this day and age!" He informed her.

Sara wondered about that while also wondering how he even knew about that. And would ask him if they lived through this. "Maybe our boy Asim is just a fan of some forms of old school weaponry!?" She asked as she hurled another device into an on coming group, the ear piercing sound drove them to their knees, then they all went flying to their deaths after it exploded.

"Hmm… Perhaps!" To be honest, he'd always wanted to see one for himself since he'd always been a fan of things that helped make things go boom.

"LADY NYSSA!" A voice bellowed out, causing Sara's eyes to widen in fear before she took off in the direction of the voice with Qunbila chasing after her and also ensuring none attacked her from behind.

Gunfire, screams, and shells being fired from two other tanks filled the air as she ran as quick as she could, sometimes jumping over dead bodies and even side stepping those who would try to stop her. Those who tried it quickly wound up dead courtesy of her fellow Assassin. Soon she came upon four other League members including Farhan in a circle of sorts as they valiantly fought off those who would try to break through their circle. Pushing enemy soldiers out of her way, she barralled into the circle to see another League member on one knee as he tended to Nyssa who seemed to be bleeding from the shoulder. "Nyssa! What happened!? Are you okay!?" She asked frantically.

The glare she got for that made her wince a bit. "Calm yourself Ta-er! Some fool shot me in the shoulder but he has paid the price for such actions." Nyssa told her lover coldly as she was definitely not happy about the way she had acted, nor was she too happy over being shot in the first place! Had Ta-er acted in such a manner in private, she wouldn't take such an issue with it then.

"As much as I HATE to say it, I feel we may have to abandon this Outpost and make our way to the only one left. Perhaps Black Adam shall finally make a move after this if he wishes to not have the enemy at his door step." Make a move indeed, plagued by voices be damned!

"'Ihna 'idir mish bass retreat!" Farhan protested, not even caring if she did start to glare at him since he wasn't looking at her when he spoke.

Sara shook her head at the kid's stubbornness, though she could understand why he would want to argue against that. However before anymore arguing could be started, the voice of the Captain could be heard shouting for a retreat. "Well, guess that decision's been made for us." Sara said somewhat sarcastically. Farhan huffed in annoyance at having to run away yet again and swore he would make the man who dared to launch this invasion upon his home suffer!

One of the League members who'd been surrounding Nyssa with the others suddenly knocked him out, making the others look at him. "Best to make him unconscious so he doesn't fight us." He reasoned, and nobody could quite argue against that. The man then picked him up and hauled him over his shoulder.

He looked at Nyssa for a moment before speaking again. "My lady, its best if you are carried by someone as we make our leave. The blood loss you already are suffering will make it hard for you to manage effectively in the effort to leave this battlefield."

 _Score one for this guy in making with the common sense!_  Sara thought and knew her girl wasn't going to be happy about having to be carried at all. Nyssa sighed unhappily. "Fine, I do not like it but I will do as recommended." She informed them in her most unhappiest tone of voice.

A cloud of dirt went up around them after that thanks to a shell coming a good distance from them. One of the League members quickly took action after that and picked up Nyssa quickly, much to her continued annoyance. Though she wouldn't ever admit it aloud unless in private, she wouldn't have minded if it was her Canary who had done so. And soon, the group took off along with the rest of their comrades to make it to the last remaining Southern outpost while leaving Sara to wonder who would get the oh so lucky fun task of informing the King of this unfortunate development.  _I only wish I could have ended that asshole's life myself for shooting her._  She thought darkly to herself as they grabbed what horses they could to leave the area.

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**Author's Notes: I certainly hope this will have been worth the wait! Many apologies for the wait as well and hopefully this won't be happening again for a long, long time! First bit of Turkish is basically 'And so, I say to our King that we need updated weapons! But he not listen!' Next bit is 'Now let us speak of preparations!' Farhan's words are basically 'No we can not retreat!' R and R!**


	35. Of Canaries and Heirs Part 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here.**

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It had taken the League members, the Capital soldiers, and the surviving Outpost soldiers most of the night to reach the last remaining Southern Outpost. It being dark and several of them having injuries while trying to avoid getting killed or injured more by oncoming attackers that decided to follow them had ensured the long trek there. Of the 21 members of the League aside from Tuo ma that had left the Capital to defend the Outposts, 6 of their number had been killed during the last battle, 40 of the 100 soldiers that had come with them had been lost as well aside from Farhan, of the remaining fifty soldiers that had survived including the captain until the next attack on their station, only 20 of their number had managed to make it out alive, along side their captain. Needless to say, morale wasn't that high and it had nearly caused several arguments on the way to the last Outpost. Nyssa being injured hadn't helped matters any at the time either, nor did Farhan's near constant complaints about how they all had run away like cowards and leaving their station for the enemy to claim for themselves. Sara had strongly wanted to knock the crap out of him but kept herself in check as she didn't want to start trouble at the time.

Their arrival at the last Outpost, which was more of a small town then anything else surprisingly enough had been at first met with hostility and distrust until the captain had been able to convince them they meant no harm to them. And that their appearances was no sort of a trick. Sara had guessed that maybe these guys hadn't been paying attention when they had previously come by the day before. Which was a seriously stupid move on their part. The small city and Outpost had been named after the God known as Mehen years ago and was one of the few places left in the entire country that still worshipped a God like Mehen to this day. Something Adam himself was well aware of but never did anything to put a stop to it. After ensuring that everyone was seen by a healer, the captain informed Sara and Nyssa that he would take the responsibility of informing his King of the recent if unfortunate news. Sara had wished him all the luck in the world over that and soon afterwards, he was off.

Nyssa had passed out after being seen too and Sara had soon followed afterwards after finally succumbing to the exhaustion of the previous night, though the lovely Canary would have several nightmares over what she'd done and seen during the fight. Qunbila had taken command for the time being due to the simple fact he'd been around a bit longer then the other League members currently there aside from Nyssa herself until she woke up to give further commands. He'd spent most of the morning speaking with the city leader and the city's captain over what could be done to prepare in case the invaders decided to attack. The man was honestly exhausted but refused to rest until the Heir had awakened to give further orders. The discussions with the two men had been a trial in and of itself as the town leader spoke only Amharic due to the fact he'd always been a stubborn man who refused to learn anything. He'd only really even gained the position through Nepotism by way of his uncle who'd been the previous leader of the town. The language was something that Qunbila himself knew nothing of and had to rely on the city's captain to translate for him.

Qunbila honestly felt that someone should assassinate the city leader so that someone with more brains and less stubbornness could lead instead. And if he got the chance too, he'd speak with the King himself over the matter as he got the impression that the captain of the city wasn't a big fan of the guy. Nor was a lot of others for that matter judging by what the man had confided in him about when they were leaving the man's so called office. Of course if he was lucky, maybe when they were attacked the man would get killed and he wouldn't have to speak with the King at all over the matter. He knew that sort of thinking was best not to mention around other League members including Nyssa as he didn't want to get a lecture or perhaps worse than that for his thinking. Though he had a feeling Ta-er wouldn't even be bothered too much by it.

It'd be around noon when he was informed that Lady Nyssa had finally woken up and he'd taken off like a bat out of Hell to check in with her. The sight he arrived too would be described as comical with Ta-er hovering about and trying to ensure that the Heir had whatever she needed. The look of slight annoyance on the Heir's face was somewhat amusing to the man but he had a feeling she was enjoying the attention however. "Ta-er! I may be injured, but I am okay! Please calm yourself and stop hovering about." She pleaded with her Canary as the attention while wonderful was starting to drive her a bit crazy.

"But..." Sara started but trailed off when she got something of a glare from the other woman.

She grabbed a near by chair and pulled it close to the bed and grabbed hold of her girl's hands before looking into her eyes not caring if they had visitors or not. "I'm… I'm really glad you weren't hurt worse babe." She told her softly, making Nyssa smile and Qunbila to feel uncomfortable as he felt like he was intruding on a private moment between the two. And so he backed out slowly so as not to disturb them, though he already knew that both were aware of his presence.

Nyssa was grateful that the man had backed out of the room to give her and her Canary a bit of privacy. She wondered though if the man had had any sleep since their arrival here and resolved to speak with him about that soon. For a warrior deprived of sleep was no good to anyone. "I too am most grateful Ta-er. Though I wish I hadn't been injured to begin with. May that damned fool rot in the worst pits of Hellfire that Hell has to offer." The Heir had muttered that last bit a tad grumpily, making Sara smile and laugh a little over.

"That's my girl."

"What of you?" Nyssa asked as it had appeared her Canary had yet to wash away the previous night's happenings.

Sara had to smile again at her girl being all businesslike while at the same time being concerned for her. "Just a few scratches here and there, no biggie." She informed her with a shrug of her shoulders.

Nyssa fixed her with a stern look. "See to it that they are seen to, for you never know when they could prove to be more of a hindrance." She ordered while fully expecting the girl to argue with her on it.

The Canary seriously didn't even think that was a necessary thing and made an attempt to fight her girl on, but Nyssa would have none of it and she backed off, though not happy that she would have to get them treated since she really didn't think they were a big deal. "There could be poison or otherwise from the causes of those scratches Ta-er. It would not do for you to fall victim for being stubborn." Nyssa reasoned and she knew from the look on her Canary's face that she got her there.

Sara huffed a little at the reasoning. "Damn you and your logic." She muttered a bit jokingly.

"Well someone has to be logical, and it might as well be me." Nyssa pointed out reasonably making Sara roll her eyes. Something Nyssa let pass for now but she'd make the girl pay for the action in interesting ways at a later time.

"Oh is that so huh?" Sara asked teasingly.

"Of course, I am Nyssa, daughter and Heir to the Demon after all." She replied haughtily but with a smile to show she wasn't being entirely serious.

Sara shook her head fondly at her girl, proud that she was loosening up even more when with her.  _Who knows, maybe I'll be able to get her to do it when its just not in private?_  Oh that would be a ton of fun right there! Maybe even give big daddy Ra's a heart attack!

"As much as I'd love to continue this and maybe more if you think you're up to it." She suggested with a little wink. "I know we have a visitor so I'll just be a boring good girl for now."

"Your sacrifice for the cause is truly noble Ta-er." Nyssa informed her dryly, causing the other girl to laugh.

Qunbila chose that moment to step in, sensing that it was okay now to come inside now that their moment has passed for the time being. "My lady, it does me well to see you on the mend." He told her with a bow of respect.

She nodded her head to him in return for his words. "My thanks Qunbila for the words, now what is our current situation?"

He quickly informed her of how things were, including the losses they had suffered, making both Nyssa and Sara wince a bit over the amount of loss that happened. Unlike her father, Nyssa had a bit more respect for those in the League. And would ensure that even with a lack of bodies, that they would have a send off of some kind to the afterlife. "When this is over, I will see to it that not only our fellow warriors, but that of Kahndaq's will be honored in some form." She informed them and both Sara and Qunbila definitely could respect that and even would take part in that.

"A truly noble deed my lady." Qunbila responded quietly with Sara in full on agreement.

The three were silent for a moment until Sara spoke up asking what was next. Something the explosives expert was curious about himself. "Continue to make preparations for the coming battle, however due to my current state I will be unable to battle effectively. Something I truly detest." Nyssa said with distaste present in her tone.

The Heir then had an idea she just knew her Canary was not going to be happy with but she felt it was high time she made use of any potential leadership skills she may have. For Nyssa knew that there would be times when an Assassin would have to lead others and this was as good a time as any to see it come to life in the Canary. She knew though that Qunbila would understand as well and hoped that he would be willing to be something of a second for Ta-er if it was needed. "For every Assassin, there comes a time when they are tested to see if they possess leadership skills in case of a situation that requires a leader." For whatever reason, Sara started to have a bad feeling about where her girl was going with the whole leadership thing and she was not liking it at all.

Qunbila had a fairly good idea then of where the Heir was going with this and would fully offer his support should Ta-er ask it of him. Though whether or not she would remains to be seen. "And as such, I have made the decision to place you Ta-er as acting leader while I recover." As expected, there was several protests from the Canary over that that fully displayed her unhappiness with what had just been dropped on her.

Nyssa fixed her with a glare that made the girl wince a bit. "The decision has been made, to fight against it is foolish. Your time has arrived to see if you possess leadership skills and I have little reason to doubt that you will fail." It went unsaid by her that she was well aware of the fact that Ta-er felt she had come so far at this point in her life that laying down now just to die would not be an idea she was willing to entertain. And Nyssa was counting on that fact as well.

Sara was honestly stunned by Nyssa's apparent faith in her, but she strongly wished like Hell she had done this crap at another time then right now. Cause this would be all on her head if didn't go well in the end. Course she could be dead if it didn't go well so there's that at least. "You're really serious about this aren't you?" She asked while really not wanting to know the answer.

"Yes Ta-er, I am. And if you fail and die in the process, I will find a way to pull your spirit from the afterlife to show my displeasure." And she'd be displeased for more than one reason too. Sara honestly at that point couldn't tell if her girl was joking or not and tried not to let any fear show on her face.

Qunbila had to hide a smile behind his hand at what he'd been witnessing, though he made the act to look as if he was contemplating things so as not to gain their ire in his direction. "Okay… So no pressure then." Sara breathed out and finding part of herself wishing she hadn't become a part of the League.

Nyssa nodded satisfactorily at the Canary's words. "Indeed. I have the utmost confidence in you Ta-er."

"Well you sure do know how to say the right thing to a girl." Sara tried to joke but both Nyssa and Qunbila could hear the fear in her voice over now basically being in charge.

"I will offer my assistance to you should you truly need it." Qunbila told her and for that she was immensely grateful.

"Thanks big guy, and as my first decision, I want you to get a few hours of rest as you clearly need it." He gave a tired hum of agreement to that, glad she had decided to go that route with him before he just outright dropped.

"I will go immediately then if there is nothing else." Getting a shake of the head from her and Nyssa, he took his leave to get some well deserved rest.

Nyssa looked at Sara appraisingly. "Excellent first act of command Ta-er, as a warrior always needs their rest lest they fall prey to another due to lack of a rested mind and body."

The girl felt a little pleased over the compliment and likely would have shown her apprecation for it if it wasn't for the interruption they got from a visitor with bad news that's looking to speak with the one in charge of the black garbed warriors at the front gate. Sara looked to Nyssa who simply looked right back at her. "Go on, we will have time for one another soon enough I am sure." The Heir told her, and Sara thought that perhaps she was right.

Nodding, she leaned over and gave her girl a kiss that was a bit on the passionate side that lasted far too short in both of the girls' opinion. They shared a look into one another's eyes before she rose up and headed out, but not before grabbing her domino mask to help conceal her identity as it would not do for this jerk to somehow find out her identity and go after her family before he was stopped. Okay, so yeah, she was being paranoid but its better to be safer than sorry in situations like these. It took her roughly ten minutes to get to the front gate where she gave a nod to those manning it to open it so that she could step outside to meet their guest. She had her bo staff on hand as well just in case things got dicey. The first thing she saw was a brown skinned man in a white robe with long black hair and a beard to complete the look. She also saw a short distance away a Hummer with two guards standing outside of it ready to make a move if need be.

If this is Asim, Sara had to admit she wasn't terribly impressed by the sight of the guy. "So, I take it you're Asim Muhunnad?"

The man stepped up to her but made sure to keep a good bit of distance in between the two of them. "I am, and who would you be little girl?" He asked condescendingly, and instantly getting on her bad side for the attitude.

She raised her chin up to show she wasn't about to take his crap from her before answering him. "I am The Canary, a member of the League of Assassins and currently a leader of the group here in Kahndaq." The look he gave her showed her that he didn't seem to think much of that, which only added further insult to injury as far as she was concerned.

Asim turned his head and spit before turning back to her. "I must admit little girl, I am not terribly impressed by this. Why not go grab a man to bring here for this important moment? You should be in the kitchen at the least as it is right now, not out here playing at being a warrior." And before he knew it, he was off his feet and on his back with the end of her bo staff at his neck.

She looked upwards and noticed the two guards readying their weapons at her. "Uh uh fellas, I highly suggest you back off or I will end this jackass' life right here and now." She informed them in a no nonsense tone.

"Oh, and my friends atop the gates will end you before you can get your moronic butts back into the vehicle too for that matter." She added as an afterthought.

Seeing that they decided to do the smart thing and lower their weapons, she looked back down at Asim with an expression of loathing on her face. "I'm not playing at anything, I AM a warrior and you WILL talk to ME. You got it?" She emphasized her point by digging the bo staff's end a bit more into his throat.

"Y-yes, I ack, get it!" He managed to get out and satisfied with that, she let up on the pressure she was applying to his throat but really thinking she should just end his miserable ass right then and there.

He scrambled to get up quickly and distanced himself a bit more from her so as not to get hit by her damned weapon again and having some very dark thoughts too about what he'd like to do to her for her actions against him.  _Damned girl does not know her place! But I would only be too happy to show her that place however!_  He thought with a sadistic glee.

Sara looked at him like she would a squished bug on her shoe. "Now that we got that out of the way, what do you want?"

He scoffed at her as he felt it should be damned well obvious in what he was wanting. "For starters  _Canary_ , I want to be ruler of Kahndaq as is MY right!" He spat out angrily.

She shook her head at him with a tsking of her tongue. "Yeah… I don't think that's gonna happen buddy." She told him in a tone that implied she wasn't sorry about that at all.

The man frowned at her, coming to further disliking her in the process. "Hmmph, I will pay you and your League brethren to join my side then to help me take back this country." Surely he had more to offer than the fake ruler did!

"Hmm..." Sara started, while putting a finger under her chin and looking like she was deep in thought when she really wasn't.

"Gee that sounds like a really good offer there, but! I don't think I'll be accepting that. You see, we League types have WAY more honor than that and we don't shirk our commitments. Bad for business you know." Her response made him huff in annoyance.

He wanted to walk right up to the silly cow and slap her good and proper! But at the same time did not wish to get the wrong end of her weapon again. Though when the time came, he would take GREAT pleasure in using that against her after he made her his slave. That was a thought he would greatly enjoy later on in privacy. "To HELL with your honor little girl, you and the rest of your kind are Assassins who work for the one who has the coin to buy your services. And I am offering great coin to acquire said services as surely I have more to offer." Hell his benefactor had more money than he knew what to do with for the Creator's sake!

She shook her head negatively as she realized this was a guy who just didn't like taking no for an answer. "Again, that's gonna be a big no. I get you might not be used to taking no for an answer, but its high time you learned. We will NOT be abandoning these people." The Canary stated firmly with some coldness entering her voice to signify he needed to back the Hell off.

He spat on the ground again, but this time it landed near her feet. Something she just didn't care for at all cause she did NOT want his disgusting spit on or even near her boots thank you very much! "Fine then you damned cow! I will give you until noon tomorrow to change your mind. If you do not, I will reign down Hell upon you and this Outpost with my entire army! And then! And then once we have won here, we will fortify ourselves in this place before marching towards Shiruta, where I shall take back MY rightful place upon the throne! You will be my personal play thing too little girl, and I give no damn how broken you may be when that happens either!" The look in his eyes honestly disturbed her but she wasn't about to let it show, if anything she just wanted to kill him even more.

"We'll be waiting for you, and I promise you this… You WON'T win a damned thing if I have anything to say about it. So take your long dress wearing ass on out here of Basima!" Her insult definitely made him mad then and he went to lunge at her but a positioning of her bo staff made him quickly stop.

"Hmmph. Tomorrow at noon then." Asim said, and then turned around and walked off quickly back to his Hummer.

Sara watched him climb inside with the guards quickly following suit before hauling ass with a dust cloud being left in their wake. She had to try and ward off any of the dust coming into her face thanks to their carelessness and added that to the list of grievances she had with Asim and his bunch. She turned around and headed back towards the gates thinking to herself as she made her way back in.  _We are SO possibly screwed._  She morosely thought, but she wasn't about to turn tail and run off now.

She would wait until Qunbila would have three hours of sleep at the most before calling a meeting to discuss what they and those stationed here, along with the bunch who had come with them would do. She knew though that her felllow Assassins wouldn't leave things be either as they would all die before shirking a mission given to them. However, she did plan to send a messenger with this latest update to the Capital to inform them of what's going on while she gave Qunbila and any others that needed it time to rest. And Sara hoped like crazy that would get the King to ignore his head case issues for a bit and finally join up and fight back. She also considered that perhaps sending the women and children, along with anyone else unable to fight with the messenger to Shiruta as well.

**Shiruta, Capital of Kahndaq Around 4:00 PM…**

After the captain had arrived with updates on all that had transpired, things were understandably tense in the palace as many debated on what should be done while the King himself sat on his throne and brooded over it all. That damnedable voice wasn't helping matters either as it was growing even more annoying then it had been previously. And he was about ready to snap and go nuts over it all.  _Why in the name of the Gods is this being allowed to happen!? Surely I have done nothing wrong to anger them?_  This troubling issue greatly concerned him.

 _ **Quit your whining and just give in to my power and control! It is for the best and you know it!**_ The voice hauntingly informed him as he shook his head negatively.

"NO! BE GONE!" He thundered, scaring many in the throne room a great deal as he slouched into his chair.

The voice laughed evilly, and Adam, wishing to try and escape it, flew out of the nearest open window and up into the air. The freshness of it was a balm to him as he desperately hoped the blasted voice would not dare to follow him here.  _Perhaps, perhaps it is time I spoke with the Gods to find out what is going on._  And so he rose higher into the air while looking upwards with a determined look on his face.

After reaching a suitable height into the skies, he began to speak aloud. "To the ancient Gods of Egypt... I summon thee! I summon the likes of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen so that I may speak with you! COME! FOR I'VE NEED OF ANSWERS!" He roared out.

Dark clouds gathered as bolts of lightning struck out around him, but he was not phased by it in the least as he'd seen far worse and none of those bolts of lightning could do much to him anyway as it is. And as this all went on, six ghostly figures appeared in the air around him. These six were the very ones who helped to give him the powers of Shazam. "You have called, and we have come Teth-Adam. What troubles you?" Zehuti, the God of Wisdom whom had a head that greatly looked like an Ibis.

Adam looked around him at each of the Gods before finally giving Zehuti his full attention. "I am forever thankful my Lord for your being here this day. As for what troubles me, as of late I have been plagued by a voice that would seek to have me under its control. This voice should NOT even have been able to have gained such a presence around me." He informed him and the rest of the Gods.

It was not Zehuti who spoke then, but Mehen who did. "Yessss… Troubling indeed Champion. Thissss voice hassss only been able to do sssso becaussse in thissss day and age where Man isss lesssss inclined to believe in the old wayssss, it lessenssss our power here in thissss realm from lack of faith in usssss..." The snake like figured informed the shocked man.

The long lived man hadn't ever even considered that possibility and now that he knew about it, he considered what that meant for not only his Gods, but for himself as well. "If a lack of faith from followers is lessening your strength in this realm, that means my own abilities are fading as well?" He asked, mostly to get a fuller understanding.

Zehuti spoke up again and informed him that was indeed the case, and that if something was not done to stop this, then he and the rest of the Gods of Egypt would fade away. And with their fading, so would his own powers. Something Adam honestly did not like the sound of at all. "Once this matter with Asim has been handled, I will see to it that my people begin to believe in all of you once again! Not only for my own continued gain, but yours as well." He promised as he raised his closed fist up and looked at it with determination burning in his eyes.

The Gods nodded their appreciation to him and felt that once again they had chosen wisely to act through the old man to give Teth-Adam their power to act as Champion. "We await your victory Champion!" Mehen proclaimed before he and the others faded away to return to their realm to watch further events.

"And victory is what will happen as I crush the heads of my enemies with my bare hands!" He promised and flew back to his palace, more determined then ever to end the plague brought upon him by the voice. And if Asim is in league with it, then there would be absolutely no mercy upon the fool!

**Several Hours Later In The Small City of Mehen…**

After having her fellow League members, along with the Capital soldiers, Farhan, and the remaining soldiers from the previous Outpost get some well needed rest. She gathered them all up, along with those stationed in Mehen to have a meeting over Asim's declaration of war on them for the following day in the afternoon. Needless to say it had pretty much been mayhem afterwards as the Mehen group started to go a bit nuts with their reactions. Unfortunately, the fact that they were already wanting to give up was not sitting well with anyone else considering the crap they'd been through already in trying to stop the invaders. Sara's decision to have the women, children, and otherwise evacuated to Shiruta when she sent the messenger there along with a few Mehen soldiers to guard their safety had done the opposite of having all those lives not on their mind anymore and instead, they were all feeling pretty fatalistic.

Sara was honestly wanting to slap the ever loving crap out of all them. Arguments had broken out between the Mehen soldiers and the soldiers from outside of Mehen as well and it was all just one big headache.  _Damnit Nyssa, why couldn't you have put Qunbila in charge!? I am not motivational in anyway and these guys are pretty much about to force me to be that in order to get a fire lit under their asses!_  She groused in her head and resolved to find some way to get it thorougly across to Nyssa that she owed her after all this was taken care of. She owed her a whole Hell of a lot!

Sighing agitatedly to herself, she stood up and whistled loudly, instantly gaining everyone's attention. Qunbila knew that this would be a pivotal moment for the girl in her time as a leader while Lady Nyssa recovered from the gunshot. There had been a little grumbling from his fellow Assassins over her appointment but they had so far said nothing as they did not wish to gain the ire of the Demon's Heir. Plus, they figured that if Qunbila himself didn't seem to be having much of an issue with her being leader, then raising a stink would likely not do much and would only hinder things. Satisfied that she had gotten everyone's attention, she spoke up. "Look, I know this is some seriously huge scary crap guys, but you can't let that stop you! This is your home and do you really wanna loose that to Asim and his bunch of invading jerks!?" She asked and took a look at all of them and she could see the doubt on many of their faces.

_These guys are losin' faith and only a damned miracle is gonna get through to them._

"A wise man once said that you should not ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. So you got to ask yourself this, what can you do for your country? What will you do? Will you fight for it or leave it to be over run by those who wouldn't give a damn? Cause while you guys sure as Hell didn't start this war, you should all damn well want to finish it." She could see Farhan and many others including a few Mehen soldiers nodding their heads at her words and she felt happy over that in having gotten the message through at least somewhat.

But the fact that a vast majority of the small town's fighters were still on the fence and looking all fearful and the like didn't feel her with more hope. All she could do now is hope and pray that they pull some courage out of their butts when the time came. "Well, I've said all I really can on this. Just know that you've got until noon tomorrow to decide what to do. Because you aren't only letting yourself down if you don't fight, but also your families as well." And with that, she walked away with Farhan, the Capital bunch, and her fellow League members trailing behind her to let those stationed at Mehen to think on her words.

**When Visitors Come A Callin' To Shiruta…**

It was around evening back at the Capital of Kahndaq and Black Adam could be seen meditating on the floor in his throne room trying to pinpoint where the voice could be coming from while Tuo ma decided to do another search of his throne room to find the source as well. However, her senses were telling her the source of the problem was coming from the King himself. Which was something she was finding a little worrisome to be honest. Their tasks however were interrupted when Elias came in with a guest who was looking rather nervous, the sight of that told the King he was about to get news he wasn't going to like. "King Adam, I introduce to you Shahin of the South who comes bearing news you need to hear." The older man informed him.

Adam nodded and rose up to walk over to the newcomer with Tuo ma at a distance behind him who was staring in his direction rather intensely. "What news do you bring me this day soldier of Mehen?"

"I haet 'inta chabar dah Mehen is kullahaega dah bawae'i." Shahin informed him somberly, making not only the King's eyes, but also Elias' eyes go wide in shock and surprise over the news.

 _ **Bah! So what!? Leave it be for there's more important things to consider!**_  The voice told him and the man had a pretty good idea what it was referring too. But he wasn't about to give a crap what it wanted.

Growling softly, he turned to Elias and told the man to get word out to all soldiers in the Capital to begin preparing not only themselves, but their horses for war. Elias nodded his understanding, bowed to his King, and then left to begin to do as he was asked. Adam gave his attention back to Shahin and asked if there was anything else. His question soon got him the answer that the man had brung with him those of Mehen who wouldn't have been able to fight and all were currently being seen to for whatever they needed. Tuo ma was especially concerned and a bit surprised when she learned that Nyssa was amongst those who were in need of further medical help. She was about to go and see her when her ability to sense things started going haywire and it was all coming from near the King himself again. "As the saying goes… When it rains it pours. Very well then young soldier, I thank you for delivering your message to me. Take time to rest and then prepare yourself for the coming battle." Shahin nodded and quickly left.

 _ **FOOL! Do not waste your time on such trivialities! I tire of your fighting against me! Do you hear me Black Adam!? I will have your power and I will have it now! Give in! GIVE.. ACK!**_  The grunt of pain surprised the long lived man and then a flash of light furthered his surprise and he quickly turned around to see what in the Hell had just happened.

The first thing he saw was an old man with graying hair in a blue outfit with what looked to be some golden design around the lining of it complete with a turban that had a golden headband around it. He also had a blade sticking out of him from behind and a rather shocked look on his face at having been stabbed like he was. Adam however would know this man anywhere considering he'd met him two years previously when the fool tried to take his power for himself. "FELIX FAUST! You dare to tread where you are not wanted!? As I said before magician, you will NOT have my power! For your crimes against me and my people, I will end you here and now!" He roared out very unhappily, only for Faust to smirk at him, further angering him.

The man attempted to laugh but the sword being in him made it rather difficult. Tuo ma then chose to pull the blade out and he fell to his knees rather painfully as he looked upwards at the King. "Ha! Fool! Were… I really there… I would… Be worried for… My life. Fortunately… I am merely… Ack! An echo of true… Self." He smugly informed the man before spitting out blood from his mouth.

Adam angrily gazed down upon him with a strong desire to end the fool right then and there. "Your magics are impressive old man, but rest assured I will be ending you with my own two hands myself!" And to punctuate his meaning, he grabbed Faust's head and twisted it violently. Effectively ending the magician's hold over the body he was using to commit his foul deeds.

Dead, the body fell to the ground with a thump and another flash of light. Revealing an old man with dark brown skin in torn clothing with a rather shaggy beard that the two saw once Adam rolled the man on to his back with his boot. He felt no pity for the body as all he felt was rage for Faust's actions against him. Tuo ma looked on impassively though on the inside she was happy that Adam's turmoil was now over. Adam then looked up towards her and she could see a look of apprecation in his eyes for her part in finally ending the problem he'd been experiencing. Stepping over the body and standing before her, he put a finger on her chin and raised her head a bit more so that he could gaze into her eyes.

"You my lady have my most sincerest thanks for ending that madness. However temporary it may be." He told her with utmost sincerity in his voice.

She smiled at him. "Though I merely performed a service, I am however, pleased to see you are happy with it." She told him kindly with that smile still present and a warmth in her eyes.

Adam, much to the surprise of both, then leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. They stayed that way in what felt like forever until he broke it off and looked into her eyes again. "I know not why I seem so drawn to you Tuo ma, but drawn I am. I wish to explore it if you are willing once Asim and his band of fools have been stopped." He told her, not wishing to leave from where he was at all.

She looked right back into his eyes and could see his desire for her and wondered if she was showing him the exact same thing. But considering her own limited experiences in this kind of thing, she was a bit unsure of it all but the idea of exploring things further with him greatly appealed to her. "I… I would like that. But my commitment to the League will interfere with that."

He could hear the regret in her voice but he wasn't about to let Ra's and his little League get in the way of what he wanted. "We shall deal with that soon enough I assure you." He promised her, and she got the feeling he just may damned well win too!

Reluctantly, he finally pulled away from her. "Now come, let us prepare for the coming battle as we will need to leave as soon as we are able too in order to make it there in time so that all is not lost."

The girl nodded at him and together, the two walked off to begin their preparations for what would be the final conflict with Asim.

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**Author's Notes: The bit of Arabic seen here is basically 'I have come to tell you news of Mehen now being the last'. R and R!**


	36. Of Canaries And Heirs Part 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Now let's roll on! I oughta add random quotes to this thing or something.**

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The night had come and gone, much as it did with the arrival of morning and into the afternoon. Standing about a mile away from the gates to the entrance of Mehen stood Sara, her fellow remaining League members, Farhan, the remaining Capital Soldiers, and those from the previous Outpost all ready for the fight to soon come. And they didn't have long to wait either as Asim and his army of 2,000 men soon appeared, an army that consisted of at least six tanks as well. Sara's eyes widened at the size of his army.  _Well, living was nice while it lasted._  She thought to herself somewhat sarcastically. No way was she going to cut and run like a bitch though. Only cowards did that and she was no damned coward.

Asim and his army stopped a good distance away from the defenders of Mehen and the man observed what was in front of him as he knew by staying here that his men would have an easier time of picking off any resistance to their advancement. He then sent out one of his men to speak with the girl he'd spoken with the previous day to see what her answer was. And personally, a small part of him hoped she would decline his offer as he greatly wanted to teach her her place in the world. And what better way then to mercilessly beat the Hell out of her as his men killed her comrades in arms all around her? The imagery left a sick smile on his face as his man went out. The fellow who got the task of asking Sara what her decision was, was something of a portly fellow and a bald head.

Now considering he's pretty much in a warzone, his being portly wouldn't be a good thing as it'd likely get him killed easier but he always seemed to have a lot of luck on his side through out his life and he didn't think that was about to betray him now. After the rather long walk that he'd rather not have done as it left him a bit sweaty and huffing and puffing for breath, he finally reached the enemy leader. He doubled over though as he needed a bit more time to catch his breath as he was so not used to that sort of thing. Asim personally detested the man and wondered how his benefactor would even be so willing as he was to keep the man on. Sara looked on bemused at the sight before her and strongly wished the rest of his bunch were like him as it would likely be easier to take them out. "I… Apologies for… This…" He got out as he stood back to his full height.

"No biggie, big guy like yourself needs a moment or two." She told him with a shrug of her shoulders.

The man wasn't sure if he should take that as an insult or not but decided to leave it be for now as there was more important things to worry about. "Yes… Well anyway. My commanding officer wishes to know of your decision regarding his offer from yesterday." He informed her and before she could say anything about what she particularly thought about the douche bag's offer, all 400 soldiers of Mehen soon appeared, getting a smile from the girl as she was quite pleased with their sudden appearance.

The captain soon spoke up in Arabic, informing the man that in no uncertain terms were they going to allow him and his master to run all over them over foolish notions of ruling the country. The portly fellow sneered at him before giving his attention back to Sara with an expectant look on his face. "Hey you heard the man, the answer's a big fat Hell no." She happily informed him, making him sneer again.

"Very well then, your death is assured this day." He replied and walked back off, eager to get this started and hopefully get a chance to kill the newcomer who'd spoken to him so disrespectfully.

However, he only maybe got a few feet away when he suddenly stopped and then fell to his knees shortly before falling on his face to the ground. Dead as can be as he now had a stab wound in the back of his head with the Mehen captain holding the sword that had done it. He looked back up and fixed Asim and his army across the distance with a glare before looking back to Sara who only shrugged her shoulders, not exactly caring too much about what he'd done. The big fella was likely gonna die anyway so might as well get it over with now she reasoned to herself. Speaking of our boy Asim and his unmerry bunch, he was definitely not happy about his man being killed and it was enough for him to get the jist of things. Especially when the girl he wanted to put in her place put her hand out and looked to be doing something with it and a gut feeling told him she was not doing something nice. Huffing angrily to himself, he looked at his men from his spot at the front of his Hummer.

"Enough prattling about… For its time to earn your keep but remember, the girl is mine. Now… CHARGE! AND SHOW NO MERCY!" He screamed out and soon they were off while he stayed behind as he had no intention of getting involved unless he absolutely had too. As a leader let the men do all the fighting after all while the leader himself stayed out of the battlefield to reap all the glory of their victories.

Oh how little the man truly knew about being a leader. Sara looked around her after seeing the jerk's bunch start charging at them with loud yells. "Well… Let's do this." And took off with her bo staff and its blade attached at the end, ready to do some damage. Her fellow fighters following not long afterward with battle cries of their own.

While Asim's men had a few more advanced weapons on them, none of them felt like wanting to use them as they wanted to save on ammo for the main course. But were more than willing to use them if they wanted too. Besides, they were spoiling for a good bit of exercise and what better way was there to get it then by ending the lives of all these fools? Even the tanks were trailing along, albeit slowly due to the sandy terrain and had already let off a few shots to pick off a few of their opponents. The two opposing forces clashed and the battle was on as they all fought. Qunbila when he could would throw bombs at random times to help end a few enemy combatant lives before going back to using his sword to defend himself. As Sara fought and took lives, she knew that doing this was the right thing to do even though she knew more on her side could lose their lives today, including her. But she would do her damnedest to avoid dying as she wanted more time with Nyssa. And maybe, just maybe see her family again, even if only from a distance at that.

For Farhan, this was the single largest battle he'd ever been in and he was terrified beyound belief but he refused to let his fear take hold of him. He would honor his father and the lives of many others by fighting in their memories. And if he died this day, then he would do so while fighting for the continued safety of Kahndaq. He thrust and parried and blocked strikes either with his sword or his shield and did his best to ignore the throbbing in his arm after each impact that hit his shield. He got a surprised kick to the back that made him stumble and he likely would have been dead if if it wasn't for the timing of two of his fellow comrades in arms. All three wound up having to shield their faces when sand and body parts went flying after a shell from a tank had struck before getting back into the fight.

One of the League members was doing everything she could to cut through her enemies as she wanted to reach one of the tanks and see about ending the lives of those in it and thus making it one less threat to deal with, but so far that goal had yet to be achieved much to her annoyance. Perhaps she'd even be able to use the tank to their advantage too even though she knew that she herself or none of the others really even likely knew how to run it considering how old it looked. While her weaponry of choice were sais, using those here would not be as effective since it would require to get in much closer and that would likely get her killed. So she was using a sword instead to fight with and proving to be just as deadly with it as she would have been with her sais. Unfortunately for her, she wouldn't be able to accomplish her goal when a shell landed a few feet from her and the explosion of it launched her and several others into the air in opposite directions. The impact, plus the burns she was feeling from the shell's going off left her in excruciating pain and it was enough for an enemy to get the drop on her and end her life. His own life was soon ended afterwards by a Capital soldier who was disgusted by what his kill had done to a comrade of Kahndaq.

The Captain of Mehen, two Capital soldiers, a League member, and two of the soldiers from the previous Outpost were all pushing through the fighters, determined to reach one of the tanks and take it out. The six were a fierce bunch as they took no prisoners in their quest to take down a tank. The League member was fortunate enough to see that the tank they were heading for was aiming at them and yelled out for his fellow fighters to quickly get out of the way before it could hit them. They were all successful, though quite a few lives were lost including those they were fighting against but it hadn't bothered them since it was the enemy. The six regrouped and went back to charging at the tank, even more determined to stop at least that one. Their bravery would become something of a legend in Kahndaq and even Ra's Al Ghul would be impressed by one of his own having been part of it.

As they approached while fighting off any opposition, one of the Capital soldiers threw a spear he'd been primarily using at the soldier atop the tank who'd been firing a machine gun at them. The spear hit its mark and the man fell back lifelessly, allowing the six to quickly climb atop the moving tank and do what they could to stop it. It would be the Captain's turn this time to notice another tank taking aim at them as Asim's men couldn't afford to allow the opposition to take hold of one of their weapons. Yelling out a warning, the men jumped off the tank and went into a roll on the ground as they landed as the shell hit the tank, sending it up in flames and debris. They all had to move around to avoid getting hit as none of them wanted to be killed by it. The men would have went after the tank that fired on them but they were met with more of the enemy and they gladly took on the challenge while attempting to keep as much of a watch as they could on the tanks so that they themselves wouldn't get blown to Hell.

Sara would have cheered over that small victory if she could, but alas she was too busy fighting for her life while seriously wishing Nyssa was there fighting side by side with her. She'd already taken a few hits and she knew she was gonna be a big bruise later on if she was still alive. The sting from the cuts she managed to get from a few blades was annoying the crap out of her too.  _I hope those damn blades are sterile, cause if not, I am gonna go to the afterlife and beat the Hell out of a few people._  Sara grumbled in her head as she continued to fiercely fight back. Though as she did, she could feel the darkness in her growing even more with each life she took. But she wasn't about to let that bother her now as she had more of an interest in living through all this then dwelling on that.

It was then to everyone's shock that all of the remaining tanks in play were all sudddenly destroyed, leaving a giant flaming dust cloud in its wake. Asim was absolutely furious while those fighting against him and his men took advantage of the enemy's shock to do a little cheering at the victory while wondering how the Hell it happened. A figure could be seen walking out of the dust cloud with long strides and a determined aura about him, and when the fighters of Kahndaq got a good look at him, they all realized it was Black Adam himself! "HEAR ME! BLACK ADAM HAS ARRIVED! AND SO HAS VICTORY!" He roared out, making Asim even more furious if it was possible as he ran into his Hummer and started it with the intent of running the fool who held what was rightfully his down.

Adam took note of this and smirked as he had a wake up call for the man who thought he could kill him. A loud yell grabbed his attention when he saw that Tuo ma had finally arrived to add much needed back up. The sight of her and the men, which included the Captain who'd come to tell him of what happened with the previous Outpost riding on horse to join the fun was a sight to behold and Sara was happy as can be at the sight of them. And would be yet another legend for all of Kahndaq to know of.  _That girl has got AMAZING timing!_  She thought happily to herself.

"FOR KAHNDAQ!" Could be heard by all present from the mouth of Tuo ma herself.

But the enemies of Kahndaq weren't about to be deterred and quickly got back to fighting after shaking off their shock of seeing the tanks crashed. Many of the fighters of Kahndaq cursed themselves for their stupidity for not having taken better advantage of the situation and many were glad it hadn't gotten them killed. Thoguh Farhan was not so lucky as he was rather unused to prolonged battle with so many enemies to fight against and had been kicked in the stomach hard, sending him to the ground with a coughing gasp.

Struggling to get up and on to his knees, he managed to raise his blade in time to deflect an oncoming sword strike, a bullet to the shoulder by way of a hand gun the intended killer had on him filled him with a great amount of pain. But he would do his best to ignore it as he used his uninjured side to impale the man with his blade once he saw an opening. Normally, he would have pulled his blade out, but the pain he was feeling had left him a bit weak, and unfortunately it was enough for one individual to take advantage and cut off his fore arm. Leaving poor Farhan to look on in shock before finally screaming in agony as the pain finally caught up to him. His back to the man responsible as he held his now amputated arm while still on his knees, he sobbed uncontrollably as this was a pain he'd never felt before in his life. "Aacbb! I kaen fashal!" He cried out in sorrow, ashamed that he could not succeed in his father's place.

He could hear laughing from behind him, but he did not care as the pain was just too much and he had a feeling that his time to die was now. "You take life, I not care. I fought well and none can ask more of it." He told the man without looking back at his soon to be killer in broken English.

His soon to be killer gave a boisterous laugh at his bravado before suddenly making a sound of pain, leaving Farhan to hear the falling of a body. A hand touched his shoulder gently, but he tensed up anyway as he was unsure of what was to happen next as his life's blood continued to leave him, making him weak. "It is okay young soldier, you've done enough this day." The kind warmth filled voice of Tuo ma told him. He turned to her with a wide eyed look as tears kept coming down, unable to speak before finally passing out.

Were it not for her, he would have fell to the ground but due to her years of training she was able to catch him and he was currently resting against her. The lull she was experiencing in not having anyone to attack her and the young soldier allowed for her to whistle in order to capture the attention of several of the soldiers who'd come with her to take him and tend to his wounds. Her attention was soon caught however when inpending danger came her way, only for the Captain who'd come to inform them of what had happened took care of it. Giving him a grateful nod and getting a smile and nod back in return, the two went to work.

Adam slowly walked towards the oncoming Hummer with a smirk in place while raising one hand up into the sky, causing dark clouds to form and as the Hummer got closer with a screaming with rage Asim inside. He brought down the hand, bringing down one Hell of a huge lightning bolt on top of the Hummer's hood. The impact forced Muhunnad to swerve uncontrollably before flipping over several times. Leaving his vehicle a wrecked mess and him lucky to be alive. Pleased with his actions, he looked back and saw that his men and the League members were winning. He could hear Tuo ma's voice calling out and informing her fellow fighters to leave at least ten of their enemies alive as the King had plans with them. Something Sara was damned curious about and wondered if it involved a serious amount of pain. She also wondered if maybe he'd let League members in on it.  _A fine Queen Tuo ma would make!_ Adam thought happily to himself as he floated an inch off the ground as he went over to the wrecked vehicle.

He could see Asim getting out slowly and figured the man to be a bit injured after wrecking his own transportation. "You have failed this day Muhunnad, how you ever could have thought you would be able to gain victory against me is beyond me." Adam calmly informed the man, serving to infuriate the would be ruler as he stumbled about in trying to stand up.

Asim spat at Adam as he stood up and gave the man a hate filled glare, something that might have bothered anybody else but Adam wasn't like other people in the least. "Hmmph, if that is supposed to frighten me somehow into submission boy, you are sadly mistaken." He received a growl of rage before getting charged at with a knife, making the King raise an eyebrow at the foolish man.

The King sidestepped the man but put out his foot, making his would be killer trip to the ground. He could grumbling from the other man as he got back up to his feet and charged again, only for Adam to side step and make him stumble a bit. "I can easily do this all day boy and not tire from it." He casually informed Asim.

Huffing in rage, Asim charged again, but this time Adam did side step again, but he also grabbed hold of Muhunnad's outstretched arm that held the knife and broke the arm. Making him fall to his knees with a scream of pain as his broken arm continued to be held by Adam. The King looked down at him with contempt all across his face. "However, I have no such desire to waste all day toying with you when I could be doing far more interesting things." Like beheading the little fool for example.

"Augh… I am the rightful ruler! Not you! ME!" The man protested despite the amount of pain he felt in his arm.

Adam jerked the broken arm a little for the man's foolish notions. "You have pitiful delusions for I ruled centuries ago and I rule again. Thus I AM the ONLY rightful ruler of Kahndaq." Asim shook his head in denial, absolutely refusing to believe it.

It had been fortunate that Adam and his army had been able to arrive in time as they did as it'd taken a good while to round up everyone and get properly organized. His men had become so used to relying on his power to take care of things that they all had been ill equipped for such a sudden operation. Something the long lived man had been greatly annoyed by but couldn't put any blame on his men as it also laid at his feet too. But that sort of thing wouldn't be happening again if he had anything to say about it as he planned to better prepare his army for the future. For complacency had no place in his kingdom. He dropped the broken arm, walked around Asim, grabbed the man by the back of his collar and started dragging him back to where everyone else was while completely ignoring the man's yelling. "FOLLOWERS OF ASIM! SURRENDER YOUR ARMS!" He called out as he came to them.

The sight of him dragging their commander pretty much took the fight out of them, something that made him immensely satisfied. The fact that there was more than ten of Asim's men left alive also made him happy as well. Seeing that they had won, Sara and every fighter of Kahndaq broke out into loud cheer.  _Hell yeah! I'm still alive, take that bitches!_  Sara crowed in her head.

**Three Hours Later In Shiruta…**

The returning victors were met with crowds of cheering citizens and boisterous music playing loudly in various parts of the city along with confetti and streamers flying about as they came through the Capital to reach the Palace. Asim and his men were spat on by various people in the crowds and anytime they tried to lash out against them for it, they were hit in the back and roughly pushed to keep moving. Aside from Sara, Nyssa, and Tuo ma, only nine other League members were still alive. And for Sara, she was worried how Nyssa's father was going to react to that. Especially when they had died under her command as well. But her fellow League members had fought damned well and that was enough for her and hopefully enough for Nyssa as well. There was perhaps eight of the Capital soldiers who had come with Sara left, and of the previous Outpost before Mehen, only the captain was left. Something that honestly had the man in a funk considering how long he'd known the men under him. He even had considered retiring to a more quieter life before thinking that that sort of thing could be seen as a slight by his fallen comrades.

At the steps leading to the Palace, Elias and Nyssa could be seen alongside others as they greeted the returning heroes. A camera crew was also near by as well that Elias had thought to invite as he knew his King would want to have his victory seen be all. Not to mention if he decided to do any executions that would serve as a warning to those who'd wish to bring harm to the country. Sara, when she noticed the camera crew quickly put back on her mask so as not to be recognized by anyone back home if they happened to be seeing the broadcast. Adam walked upon the steps before looking back at the gathering crowd and smiled as the camera zeroed in on him. "People of all of Kahndaq! For several weeks we have been plagued by an outside force led by a former citizen of our beloved country. And today, his attempts have been stopped! Sadly many lives have been lost, and we will need to re-build in the South, but we will remember them none the less!" His words were filled with passion and not a soul would dare to dis-believe him.

"The Gods who gave me power to be their champion are pleased with our victory! When you go home later, give thought to both the fighters of Kahndaq and to the Gods in your prayers!"

He motioned for Asim and those of his men who survived to be brought towards him. He then had them turned so that they would all face the crowd and invited the camera crew to come closer. The King then looked into the camera as he spoke. "This man who cradles his arm like an injured beast is Asim Muhunnad, he and his men attempted to take over Kahndaq and oust me from my throne. But he has FAILED! And here upon this day, he and his men shall see their final moments as I will NOT tolerate any who dare to march upon the soil of this country with intent to bring war upon us!" He raised a hand and clenched it into a fist before taking a sword from a nearby Palace guard who had sharpened the blade for this very task.

Others were brought out as well for the task and Sara, surprising even herself reached out for one to partake in what she quickly realized was about to happen.  _Fitting but why the Hell I'm doing this is beyond me._  She mused a bit confusedly, but would worry over it later as she likely puked her guts out.

Even Nyssa was surprised by what her Canary had decided to do and resolved to speak with her soon over it. Adam noticed the action as well but did nothing of it, but his already high estimation of her went up even more.  _If she weren't League and sharing affections with the Demon's Daughter, I would offer her a spot as a commander of her own batallion of men._  Pity he would't be able too, but there would be much in the way of tales of her courage for leading such an outnumbered band of warriors against the would be usurper. And who knows, perhaps he would be able to request her services in the future should it be needed.

Sara stepped up to one of the men who were on their knees and awaited further instructions as Adam looked down at Asim with a look of strong distaste on his features. "Before your execution, I ask you to tell me who your supplier is. For I know you could not have afforded the resources you used against me and mine to wage your little war." Nyssa, Sara, and many others were damned curious about that as well, but Nyssa had a feeling this man wouldn't speak.

 _I daren't to reveal the name of Savage you fool! I know he will bring wrath down upon you for this and that is enough for me as I go to my death!_  Muhunnad raged in his head while he gave Adam a smirk.

"I refuse to tell you anything oh mighty  _King_ , I know that my benefactor will avenge me when he brings about his wrath upon you!" He spat at the man and got it on his knee, earning him a frown from Adam.

"Then I, Black Adam, chosen of the Gods, King of Kahndaq, hereby sentence you and yours to execution for crimes against the country." He rose his sword into the air, Sara and the others soon followed suit and with a forward slash as Asim mouthed obscenities, his and the heads of his men were soon removed from their bodies as they rolled away.

Adam's live broadcast of the executions would cause issues with other nations like America, but they would all quickly find out quickly on how he's certainly not the man you want to mess with. For Sara, looking at the headless body now lying down on the ground with blood pouring out, she felt the darkness envelop her even more as she tried to come to grips with the horror and revulsion she was feeling for having beheaded a man. She was honestly feeling like Sara Lance truly was no more after that.  _Sara Lance would never do that, but Ta-er al-Safar would. I guess its time to face facts I no longer am Sara and that only the Canary remains._  She reflected in her mind as she heard the cheers of many of the people going on all around her.

Dropping the sword, she walked up to Nyssa and not particularly giving a damn at that moment, pulled her into a tight hug. One that was returned in equal amounts. While Nyssa wasn't exactly one for being as public like this, she would let it slide as she wanted to have her arms around her Canary. She could sense the fact that the girl was in strong need of it as well, which was another reason for not fighting against it. Besides, a hug from her Canary was a damned great thing as far as she was concerned.  _Ta-er, you have no idea how much it pleases me to see you returned to me. My faith in you was not mis-placed._

As the two embraced, Tuo ma walked up to Adam as he passed by the two not even caring about what they were doing as they had every right to be in their embrace after the events of the day. The man could have burnt the beheaded bodies to ashes, but felt they didn't deserve it and already had in motion an operation that was taking care of their bodies to be removed to outside of the Capital a good distance away so that they could all rot in the Sun's heat and be fed from by Buzzards and the like. Many of the Kahndaq fighters were dispersing as well to get some well needed rest after a hard fought battle. The surviving members from the League that had traveled here with Ta-er and Nyssa were trailing along a short distance from Tuo ma as they also wished to wash away the battle and then rest up a good while before returning home.

"The day has been won in favor of Kahndaq my King." Tuo ma began conversationally as the two walked inside.

He nodded his agreement to that, pleased as can be. "A grand feast will be had to celebrate the honor of not only the living, but those of the dead." She nodded at that and could honestly go for a bite to eat as she had used up quite a lot of energy during that fight.

"An appreciative gesture for sure, though I am sad to say that young Farhan will unlikely be taking part due in part to the loss of his hand. Plus I am sure Lady Nyssa will be wanting to leave soon as well." She informed him.

Having seen the state of the boy for himself, he could agree with Tuo ma's assessment regarding him. But he was aware of advancements in technology that could help the boy greatly, though it would take time. Perhaps the Gods would be able to assist as well if they were willing and had the power to do so. But if he had anything to say about it, they would regain their power and he would soon start getting his people to follow the ways of the Gods and putting their faith into them as they did him. "Young Farhan fought well and I will see to it he is taken well care of. As for the Demon's Heir, I am sure she will be willing to stay a bit longer to allow some rest. A tired warrior is no good to anyone after all. Besides Lady Tuo ma, I wish more time with you."

She was honestly surprised by that admission, but also a bit flattered too as she had to admit she would like to spend more time with him as well. Maybe get another of those world rocking kisses again. "Were it not for the League and my commitment to them my King, I would be most willing to spend more time with you." And she truly would too as she liked being around him.

He considered her for a moment. "When you return to Nanda Parbat, I shall accompany you and speak with the Demon himself. I would even suggest immediate marriage between you and I if it meant I could have you by my side and being Queen to my King." That admission shocked the Hell out of her as marriage wasn't something she had ever even considered since they barely knew one another yet felt so strongly drawn together!

Adam couldn't help but smile at the sight of her being shocked. "M-marriage!? While its not unheard of for those in the League to suddenly marry as per the wishes of the Demon's Head, I never thought to be married myself! Well at least not yet anyway… Ohh you'll need to speak with more then the Demon's Head! You'll need to speak with my father as well!" And boy wouldn't that be a sight to see and she worried her father might try to take a sword to the man as well!

The King could only tip his head back and laugh loudly at her reaction to it all. Prompting Tuo ma to slap him in the stomach with out much force to it, not that he minded however. "I'm… I'm sorry my dear, I truly am! But if I must speak with your father in addition to the Demon himself, then so I shall!" He walked off while chuckling as he couldn't help but do it, leaving her there to her shocked surprise.

Ta-er and Nyssa happened to come upon her in this state and wondered if maybe the King had decided to make a move on her. "What troubles you my friend?" Nyssa asked hoping it wasn't serious and if it was, she was fully prepared to kick some ass. Wounded or not!

Tuo ma turned to the two girls who were closely together with the shocked look still on her face. "He… He pretty much proposed marriage!" She managed to get out, making the eyes of the two women widen in surprise as it was the last thing they were expecting!

"Can we be bridesmaids then?"

Both Nyssa and Tuo ma turned their gazes to Ta-er after that, wondering if she'd been hit on the head during the battle. Noticing the looks she was getting she smirked at them. "What? Its a valid question you know!" The sight of her friend looking pretty flustered as she walked off while throwing her hands up in the air and muttering about traitorous friends was pretty amusing to the former Starling City resident.

"Oh we are SO in!" She told Nyssa who merely shook her head while smiling fondly at her Canary.

"Come Ta-er, we can discuss her unlikely wedding later after you've had time to freshen up." Sadly she wouldn't be able to take part in that freshening up considering her injury, but she could wait.

Ta-er stuck her tongue out at Nyssa in response. "Oh you are no fun!" She mock grumbled to her as they walked to their room.

"On the contrary Ta-er, I am the life of the party." Nyssa informed her, making the Canary snort a little at that thought.

Nyssa gave her a mock affronted look that only served to set off a round of laughter from the other girl. The moment was something Ta-er was truly cherishing as it helped to soothe her troubled mind. She couldn't wait to get freshened up as well as she really wanted some timd with her girl.

**One Hour Later…**

After nearly an hour of freshening up and leaving Nyssa to wonder if she was ever going to get out of the tub despite a few attempts from Ta-er to coax her into joining, the blonde girl finally came out feeling immensely better but still troubled to a degree. The sight of her nude self made Nyssa unable to tear her eyes away, something Ta-er quickly noticed. "Liking what you see?" She asked teasingly as she crawled into the bed with her lover.

She got one Hell of a kiss in response before the two gazed into one another's eyes. "Mmm… Liking very much Ta-er, very much indeed."

"Well happy to please babe, but it seems kind of unfair that I'm the only one naked here." She told her with a mock pout.

Nyssa merely smiled at her. "Good things come to those who wait."

She didn't have anything to say to that and decided to bury her head into Nyssa's chest. The Heir sensed that something was troubling her Canary, the fact she had been in the bath for as long as she had was also of a good indicator too. "What troubles you Habibti?" The Heir knew that word was a gamble, as it would truly reveal how she felt towards Ta-er. But she was regardless willing to do so anyway. The gasp of surprise from the blonde made tense a little but remained hopeful.

Ta-er looked up at her with tears welling up in her eyes, something that worried the Heir a bit. "Do… Do you really mean that?" The blonde asked tentatively.

"Of course I do Ta-er! Why wouldn't I?" Honestly, how could she not have fallen for her?

"Because… Because I just thought this was a benefits kind of thing. Besides, how could you love a monster like me? How could anyone love the monster I've become?" She asked as tears finally came down her face despite the fact she thought she had cried herself out while in the bath.

Nyssa took a finger and raised her Canary's chin up so that they could look one another in the eye after she had lowered her head.  _I had wondered when she would reach her breaking point, and it seems that the recent events have finally brung it. But I will not turn her away, I love her and to turn her away would be cruel. Not only for myself but for her in the state she is in now._ The potential for the girl to become a true monster would likely be unleashed afterwards if she didn't take her own life and it wasn't something Nyssa wanted to see happen. And the fact her love thought they were merely sharers of a bed bothered her a bit. But considering her past dalliances with a rich fool, she could understand why she would think that.

"Ta-er, trust me when I say that you are no monster. And to Hell with anyone else who may think that. You are a beautiful Canary who is strong and fearsome, a Canary that I have come to truly love over the months we have come to know one another."

The broken girl could hardly believe what she'd been told as it was far from what she was expecting. The fact she could hear the truth in Nyssa's words made her heart swell with love for the dark haired woman. Truth be told, she herself had realized recently that she had fallen in love with the Demon's Heir and was highly unsure if her feelings would be returned. To know that they are and that she doesn't even see her as a monster was something she wasn't sure she could put into words fully. "I… I don't think I can put into words how I'm feeling right now, but I want you to know that I do love you too. And its not just cause you saved my ass either out in that ocean." She told her with conviction and sincerity in her words.

Nyssa merely smiled at her. "You need not worry my Habibti for I've no worries of that, and hearing you love me is all the words I need from you in this moment of time." She then kissed her, and Ta-er responded in kind. Soon the two would be lost to the passion they were feeling, and while she felt broken, the blonde knew that her Nyssa's love and strength would be able to help her heal and come out even stronger for it. The two lovers would not be seen again until later in the night when the celebratory feast was ready to begin. The chorus of cheers and catcalls would actually get Nyssa blushing and Ta-er proudly smirking, if only cause she knew exactly why her girl was blushing.

The feast would be a great one as everyone aside from Farhan celebrated their victory and ate well in memory of those who had fallen. Ta-er's only regret was being unable to be near Tuo ma so that she could possibly get her to blush over the King's evident desire to marry her. Nyssa, the Canary, Tuo ma, and the captain from the previous Outpost would later visit Farhan in the medical wing of the Palace to spend time with him as they all knew he was going to need their support during his own difficult time after nearly dying and losing his hand. He had been pretty resistant at first but the captain managed to get through to him, it helped that he had a big plate of food he kept waving in front of the boy's nose to get him to eat and not be as fatalistic anymore.

The four adults weren't sure of what the future would bring their way, but they would be as ready as they could be for it. And that's all anyone could really ask for.

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**Author's Notes: We got one more chapter to go in this storyline before we head back to Ollyville. Al-Owal gets to learn of Adam's intentions for his babygirl and is not happy about it! Look forward to seeing what you all think of this one! Arabic seen here is 'Father, I have failed!' Though the closest I could get to failed for Arabic was fail, but hopefully it still works. And listening to Slipknot's Before I Forget for the first part of the battle seems to fit, course I could always be wrong. But Xena's theme song for the arrival of Tuo ma and the others definitely fits for sure.**

**I also originally intended for some public humiliation for Asim and his men by way of an idea Sara would get. One that would involve Kurt Angle's WWE theme music and the infamous 'You suck!' chant that would start up every time he came to the ring as the music played. But, the story wound up going another direction. I probably could always write a little what if for that sometime soon. I also had originally intended for Farhan to die, but later changed my mind to go with what you saw in this chapter. Anywho… R and R!**


	37. Of Canaries And Heirs Part 6

**Disclaimer: The final part to Canaries and Heirs has arrived! Perhaps it'll even tickle your funny bone. And remember folks, like Joey Ryan says… Legalize Sleaze!**

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**Two Days Later in Nanda Parbat…**

It wound up taking the League bunch and Black Adam two days to make it to Nanda Parbat and Nyssa had been worried that her father would not like the man's presence there. Not because of what occurred in the past, though that could be a factor anyway, but because of what he wished in regards to her friend and comrade in arms Tuo ma. Of course her father wouldn't be the only factor to deal with in regarding her, but also Al-Owal too. Adam was confident the discussions would go well and Ta-er was just hoping it all would make for a front row seat that would need popcorn. And after entering the halls of Nanda Parbat, they had all immediately came to the room where Ra's seemed to favor meeting his warriors in that contained the Lazarus Pit. He had shown a brief bit of surprise when he saw Kahndaq's King with them, but it was gone quicker then a blink.

Al-Owal had rushed in not long afterwards, eager to see his daughter again after a week of not being able to see her. Though any large amounts of affection for his little girl would be done later in private so as not to gain Ra's' disapproval for public affection. Both Ra's and Al-Owal were pleased with the end result of the mission to Kahndaq even if there were some losses that had occurred. Nyssa would later talk privately with her father over a certain development regarding Ta-er but she could tell that his estimation of her Canary had risen a bit after learning of what she had done before Adam and Tuo ma had shown up in the nick of time. "Your actions Ta-er al-Safar are ones that others of the League should follow suit with. I have long expected those who serve to not only fight for me, but die for me as well. For if you are un-willing to die for the mission to be complete, then you are not fit for the League." He informed the stunned blonde as it was something close to praise from him.

Nyssa gave a small smile at seeing her Canary's reaction to the praise from her father. "Th-thank you." Ta-er softly replied, and gained a nod in return from the man before giving his attention to his daughter.

"You were correct in that it was time for Ta-er al-Safar to take lead during a mission, and appointing Qunbila as her second was also a good choice considering his knowledge. Your injury proved fortunate in that aspect." He calmly relayed to her and gained a nod of understanding from his daughter.

He finally gave his attention to Adam who'd been silent the entire time. "And you? What business do you have here that you would personally come here for?" He gave a subtle nod for Nyssa and her bunch to leave and they were about too until Adam spoke up.

"They need not leave Ra's, for they already know why I came here." At this, Tuo ma tensed up and only Al-Owal seemed to notice and it made him wonder what was going on. Not to mention fight the urge to pull out his sword.

Nyssa looked towards her father and he gave another nod that it was okay to stay. Ta-er was happy about it too cause she seriously didn't want to miss this! Hey, she might be in messed up city right now and heading out of it thanks to Nyssa, but seeing things like this was a great distraction from it as far as she was concerned. "Very well then, speak your piece." The Demon's Heir commanded, not giving a crap if the man was way older than him and a ruler of his own country.

Asdam gave the man a glare and quickly found himself annoyed when he realized it had no effect on the man. Ra's merely raised an eyebrow in return and Ta-er was seriously wishing she had some popcorn for this while Tuo ma was growing pretty worried over the whole thing. "I, Black Adam, King of Kahndaq, have come to state my intention of marrying the lady Tuo ma."

 _Ohh here we go!_  Ta-er thought gleefully while Tuo ma awaited her father's outburst as she knew Ra's was unlikely to do it. And she didn't have to wait long either.

"MARRIAGE!?" Al-Owal sputtered out in shock and anger. Shock that she was getting such a proposal so soon since for him she was still way too young for such a thing. And anger that this man who barely knew his little girl wanted to marry her! The audacity of it all! Well he'd just show this fool the error of his ways!

Ra's kept silent though was already forming responses he could use should this turn of events go in any particular direction. He knew that having her as the man's Queen could prove very beneficial for his liking. And even if it didn't happen, the fact the man asked him for his help was more than enough for him to have an in towards anything he might want, even if it was only a one time thing. "I absolutely forbid such an arrangement!" Al-Owal finally said in indignant outrage and his hand was on the hilt of his sword, ready to be pulled out any second.

Adam gave the man a decidedly unimpressed look that only made the father even more angered then what he already was. "My word is final, you two barely know one another and you are far, FAR too old for my little girl!"

"Father! His age matters not to me! And yes, we barely know one another, but we are still drawn to one another and given time we can come to know one another!" Protested Tuo ma, only to gain a glare from her father. But she wouldn't back down from her stance, which surprised her a bit as she never went against anything her father said.

 _And this is why I tend to prefer and insist on a lack of personal attachments as much as possible._ Thought Ra's.

The champion nodded at his intended's words, pleased that she was willing to fight her father for what he wanted for the two of them. "She is right, we truly are drawn to one another and I have not felt such feelings towards any woman since my wife centuries ago. You need not fear for your daughter, I would never raise a hand against her and I would treat her like a true Queen." The King informed his future father in law with conviction heard in every word.

"And besides, its not like I would keep the two of you from seeing one another." He could be an ass, but he wasn't that much of an ass. Nor did he wish to have League members bringing wrath down on his people for being an idiot over his intended.

Al-Owal pulled out his sword then and there and put it right at the King's Adam's Apple while Adam himself stood there unflinching as he looked into Al-Owal's eyes head on. He wasn't flinching because he had anything to worry about from the blade, but because he knew he was being tested by his intended's father and was not about to fail it. The assassin stared at him for several moments, as if judging him possibly. "Would you do whatever it took to keep my daughter happy? Would you crush a man's head with your own two hands if he harmed her?" He asked the King dead seriously and everyone held their breaths in anticipation. Well, everyone but Ra's anyway but he was interested in hearing the answer.

"Yes, yes to both your questions. In fact, after crushing the head of the fool who would dare to harm her, I would throw his body into the desert for any number of creatures and the Sun itself to have their ways with the remains." Adam responded quickly and very seriously as well to leave little doubt in anyone's mind that he wouldn't hesitate at all in doing it.

 _Well that's damn romantic!_ Thought Ta-er, and whether or not she was being sarcastic remains to be seen.

Tuo ma felt her heart swelling up at what she'd just heard from the King and it had her thinking that if this didn't get through to her father, then she didn't know what would. Nyssa was rather impressed by the man's words and wondered if she should make such a declaration as well in regards to Ta-er? Qunbila just wanted to roll his eyes and was sorely tempted to walk off and go elsewhere, mostly his quarters but had yet to do so as he didn't want to seem rude about things. As for Ra's? He felt the man could have been even more creative with his punishment but that was just him.  _Damn him!_ Al-Owal thought somewhat annoyedly, though he was impressed by the promise that was given to him.

The father studied the man's face and eyes a bit as if judging him, and eventually, sheathed his sword, causing Tuo ma to feel instantly relieved. "Very well then, I Al-Owal, father of Tuo ma, give my approval for I see now that you are worthy of her." He said stoically, though several could hear a hint of resignation in his voice over the thought of his daughter marrying Black Adam.

Said daughter rushed to her father and wrapped him in a hug, surprising herself in the process but happier then she realized she would be over the fact he had given his blessing to Adam. Her father hugged her tight and willed himself not to cry in front of everyone for he didn't want to lose face with any of them. Sure, he's the "First One' and every bit a bad ass if not more so then most members of the League, but he was still prey to emotions. And considering it was his daughter that was making him emotional, it could be understandable for one in his position. Not that Ra's would exactly care since family dynamics and scenes such as this weren't his thing unless he could use it to his advantage. "Thank you father!" Tuo ma told the man as she hugged him.

"Y-you are welcome my child. Just do not forget about this old man when you are with him hmm?" He requested, not giving a damn at all over how ridiculous he was likely sounding.

 _He might be a hard ass when it comes to training and most other things in life, but this is proof enough that he's not 100 percent a hard ass._  Ta-er thought to herself, and it was nice to see too.

Tuo ma gave out a laugh over how her father was acting and assured him she wasn't about to forget about him anytime soon at all. It was then that Ra's cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. Seeing that he had done so satisfactorily, he began to talk. "Now that we have that… Out of the way, I believe we should speak of preparations for the wedding. Such as when the two of you wish to marry. I could perform the ceremony myself if you wish, or I could bring the Priestess to do it." Normally, he wouldn't do such a thing, but since she was like a granddaughter to him, he figured he would be… Nice enough… To offer.

Here is where Tuo ma looked apprehensive, something Adam had been prepared for since he knew he had given the girl quite a shock days before at the Palace. She pulled away from the hug she had with her father and walked tentatively up to Adam with a worried look on her face. Grabbing his hands as she looked into his eyes, she spoke. "Um… While I get the feeling you would prefer something like around now or in the near immediate future even. Despite the bond we've formed, I must admit I am not yet ready to marry. But if you are willing to give it time, I would be willing at a later date?" She requested, worried as Hell he might not want anything to do with her now. Sure she felt something for him but marriage was a big step and usually things like that in the League were done quickly, but she at least wanted to ensure this would be something they wouldn't later regret despite their growing bond with one another.

Were he any other man, Adam wouldn't have been a very happy camper, but as he'd been prepared for such an eventuality like this he was able to understand where she was coming from. A perk from being chosen by a God who granted him access to all sorts of wisdom. Nyssa and Ta-er's eyes widened at this turn of events, Al-Owal was surprised as Hell and couldn't quite find anything to say at the moment, Ra's just found himself annoyed at where this went but he could work with it anyway. Squeezing her hands gently, Adam smiled at her, something that made the girl feel relieved as she felt he got what she was going for. "My Noor, were it not for the wisdom of the God Zehuti, I would not be nearly as understanding of what you speak of. I am prepared to wait however long you wish, something we can discuss privately as well if that is what you desire." His response made her pretty happy too and it was something he could easily see given the expression on her face. The fact he called her 'his light' made her heart flutter a bit too.

"Thank you my King, may our journey together prove fruitful for us both." She told him with a smile, unaware that her father was happy as can be that she wasn't about to be married off just yet. Though if he knew she was thinking of a six month waiting period between her and Adam, he might not be as happy.

"Fruitful indeed!" Adam replied, eager to see where their path would take them. And when the time finally came and they were married, he would give her some of his power so that she would be even more his equal.

Before more could be said, Ta-er spoke up next while raising her hand up into the air a bit and making her girlfriend wonder what in the world she was up too now. "So um… Can I be a bridesmaid?" Cause seriously, she would freaking rock as a bridesmaid! Sure she and Ollie rocked the world Max Fuller's fiance once upon a time, but that's a whole other thing and so not what she was going for with this! Plus, Nyssa would not be happy! And an unhappy Nyssa is definitely not something she wanted, especially if it was hurtful.

Ra's had to resist the urge to facepalm himself over the girl's words.  _I suppose I should have expected such a thing to happen._ He groused to himself.

Adam just looked at her strangely while Tuo ma was embarrassed by her friend's question. Though she would love it if the girl was one of her bridesmaids though. Qunbila found the whole thing hilarious and the others with him were shaking their heads at the blonde. Nyssa slapped Ta-er on the shoulder without much force to it. "Ow! What was that for?" The blonde questioned her girl while rubbing where she'd been hit.

The look she got from her girl told her they'd be having a conversation about this in private later, making her groan a little on the inside. "I believe… We can discuss that at a later time." Adam finally said while thinking that this girl was a bit off, and if he hadn't of seen her in battle, would likely have suggested something be done with her.

Ta-er gave him a thumb's up, earning her another light smack on the arm from Nyssa with another muttered 'ow'. Ra's sighed in slight aggravation. "I believe it is time we dispersed for the time being, I gather some of you would prefer some rest before doing anything else." He was strongly hinting for all of them to get the Hell out before his patience with everything finally went out the window.

 _Ooh, Big Chief is getting fed up!_ A certain Canary thought to herself a bit excitedly even though she knew from word of mouth that an angry Ra's was not a good thing at all.

"Very well father, I would speak to you soon of a private matter." She informed him and gained a nod of understanding before walking away, prompting Ta-er to start following her and wondering what the private matter was though she knew she was unlikely to get an answer.

The others quickly left as well after getting the message, though Al-Owal was sure to keep an eye on where his daughter and her intended to go. Ra's, now that he had the room to himself was immensely pleased.  _Peace and Quiet are true blessings._  The man thought to himself as he stood there thinking over the recent events. Especially the private matter his daughter wished to speak of with him, and he had a feeling it related to her Canary as well. The possibilities of what he could get as payment from the King was another thing to consider too.

 _A base of operations in Kahndaq is assured for the League after our aid was a success. Not to mention one of ours marrying him adds to our favor in getting this to happen._ Yes, such a place would prove beneficial for any League members who were in that part of the world for when they needed a place to rest up and or hide until it was safe to travel. And perhaps send Ta-er there as well to stay there a good long while to keep her out of his hair, even though he knew his daughter wouldn't be too happy over it. But League needs always came first, personal needs a low priority til otherwise.

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**Author's Notes: And I think that's as good a place as any to end the Canaries and Heirs arc! Originally I considered having them get married then and there or even a day later. But I thought a decent waiting period would be better. Up next, the return to Ollyville! R and R!**


	38. Return To Ollyville

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Note that this is approximately two weeks later after we last saw Oliver and friends in their corner of the world. And if you aren't laughing by the end of this, something's not right with ya! With that said, here's this. "Live in the now 8-Bit!" Delirious to Player Uno.**

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In the two weeks since he'd been back home from the Ward, Oliver was slowly being driven up the wall by well made intentions from his family. If it wasn't Raisa hovering from time to time and reminding him about some random thing, it was his mother who was pretty much over compensating when she fussed over him, plus occasionally dragging him to the office or elsewhere so that they could have some sort of mother/son bonding thing going on. How she thought it would work in the office was something that was still beyond him. The Diggle men had found it all funny as well, especially when Thea had tricked Oliver into drinking apple juice when she claimed it was something else. While she was still hesitant around him after learning of why he'd been forced to do what he did concerning Tommy in Hong Kong, she didn't let it stop her from harrassing him with apples. Like the time she put a bunch of apples in his bed, the freak out over that had her laughing hard and as well as making her wish she had a camera too so that Tommy would get a laugh as well.

Things between Oliver and Tommy were definitely still not of the good just yet and the returned son was really starting to miss his best friend and knew that he was going to have to do something soon to get their friendship back on track. Communication between him and Laurel was still as dead as a door nail, though he wasn't entirely surprised by it considering the circumstances. But at least the four therapy sessions he'd attended in the last two weeks were going nicely so that was a plus at least. He'd even gotten the Diggles to take him to the Foundry so that he could retrieve Yao Fei's bow since he had a custom one he could use now that was also there. When he was asked about why he had it there, he merely told them he had decided to come there to use the area as target practice awhile back. He was glad they had bought that too as it had been the best thing he'd been able to think up. He also used that same exact excuse when his mom and later Thea asked him about it. The three women of the household had all also gone and applied a huge amount of guilt on him for wanting to move out.

The end result was him giving up on the idea, at least for awhile. Not that he voiced the last part, but the three women were very pleased their combined guilt attack on him was a success. Now if only he could get his mom to quit fluffing up the pillows so much in the effort to make him more comfortable and he'd be happy. But now, on this lovely Friday, Oliver found himself waking up that afternoon with a bad feeling in his stomach that had him frowning quite a bit. Getting up and grabbing his bow and quiver full of feather styled arrows as something in his gut told him he was going to need it, he left his room and walked around as quietly as he could in the hallway. Eventually coming up to Thea's door, that bad feeling seemed to intensify much to his growing annoyance. Deciding to press his ear against the door, the first and only thing he could really hear was music. But it wasn't the type of music a teen girl would likely be listening too. Oh no, this was the kind he was very familiar with as it was often more used for strip clubs or perhaps in a room with a girl who was looking to do some seducing.

Frowning even more, he listened on for a little bit more as he thought on what to do.  _If that little pervert is in there doing things with MY sister, he's gonna wish he'd never been born._  He thought darkly to himself as he finally decided on a course of action.

Backing up and readying himself for what he was about to do as he knew doing it barefoot wasn't exactly the greatest idea ever. He surged forward and kicked hard at the door, sending it flying open, rushing inside as he pulled out an arrow to nock on his bow while ignoring the slight pain in his foot and leg. The first thing he saw that made his blood boil was the sight of his baby sister of all things on her bed, sitting on top of Shane while she was thankfully wearing pants but unfortunately for him she wasn't wearing a shirt but was wearing a bra. His forced entry startled the two as they'd been quite busy getting rather close to one another despite the fact Thea had no plans to go all the way with him despite his own best efforts to the contrary.  _Oh I am so dead!_  Shane thought worriedly as he stared wide eyed at his girlfriend's brother who was looking a bit murderous.

"Ollie! What the Hell!? Get out of here!" Thea yelled out while covering herself in embarrassment. The sight of him with that arrow ready to be fired worried her but she knew there was no way he'd actually do it. Right?

Oliver glared at his sister for that. "Like Hell I will! Get off him right the Hell now! And you, you little pervert, you got five seconds to clear out before I put this in you." The archer growled out angrily, causing Shane to gulp.

Thea gaped at him in shock before shrieking angrily at him to just leave and mind his own business. Shane though was getting ready to clear the Hell out before the obviously unbalanced nut job actually hit him with an arrow! Seeing that his demand wasn't being met, he let loose the arrow, only for it to narrowly miss Shane much to his annoyance. But it did hit the headboard a few inches away from the pervert's shoulder. Screaming like a little girl, Shane threw Thea off him who thankfully hadn't fallen off the bed and hauled ass out of the room. Clad only in a pair of boxers. Incensed, Thea let loose a blood curdling scream. "OLLIEEEEEE!"

**Downstairs**

Walter and Moira had decided to have lunch at the mansion in the dining room and so far it'd been rather peaceful for the two and it was a vastly enjoyable moment. Though Walter had been intending to speak to Moira about telling her son of their relationship as he knew the longer it went on, the more unpleasant the situation could possibly be when the boy found out. But the sudden scream of young Oliver's shortened name startled the two quite a bit. Frowning to himself at having his moment and the peace interrupted, he got up to go and investigate the situation. "I shall see what the problem is Moira." He informed her and she gave him a nod to show her understanding, though she knew she should go with him to see what the issue is.

Quickly making his way out of the dining room and into the foyer where a set of stairs could be found to go to the upper area of the mansion, he was soon baffled by the sight of Thea's boyfriend Shane screaming in fear while running about in his boxers as he rushed down the steps. The sight of an arrow finding its way into the wall just as the boy passed it alarmed him. But the fact the young man was in his boxers meant the older man was going to have to take the boy to task before evidently being a pervert. "OLLIE! STOP FIRING ARROWS AT MY BOYFRIEND!" Thea screamed out angrily as Walter quickly moved out of the way of the oncoming Shane.

Then to his complete surprise as Moira rushed in to see what the heck was going on just in time to see her son land on the floor, Oliver had launched himself over the railing and landed on his feet in a crouching position. The sight of Thea running down the steps in a pair of pants and her bra was not something either of the two adults liked seeing either as it only confirmed Walter's belief about her young suitor being a pervert. Rising up, Oliver quickly nocked another arrow as everyone watched in wide eyed surprise at the scene in front of them. He fired it, only for it to miss and hit the side of the door as Shane fled in terror to the outside world. The archer rushed over to the opened doors and called out to the boy. "AND DON'T EVER LET ME SEE YOU AROUND HERE OR AROUND MY SISTER AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME!?" He roared out angrily, much to Walter's approval, though he would have certainly gone with less… Interesting measures where the boy was concerned.

"Oliver!" Moira called out, shocked by his behavior, though she was unsure who to be angry with more. Him or her daughter for doing things she had no business to be doing!

He turned to look at her with anger seen on his face as he tried to ignore the pain in both his leg and shoulder for having used archery when going after the little punk. That was likely going to mean more issues for him where his shoulder was concerned, but he'd deal as best as he could. Thea angrily stomped over to her idiotic of an interfering brother and slapped the mess out of him. "You could have killed him!" She shouted out, and was not happy to see her brother be so unphased by it all.

"Nope, wasn't gonna kill him at all. Maim on the other hand? That's what I was gonna do. Unfortunately my aim was off thanks to my shoulder." Oliver helpfully informed her and the two adults with anger in his voice at seeing what his sister had been up too, something the punk obviously had put her up to doing as well.

 _Hmm, had he actually harmed the boy we would likely have problems crop up. And knowing young Oliver's luck, Detective Lance would show up for it all._  Walter thought to himself while Moira couldn't think or say anything as she was just too stunned by what she'd seen.

Thea was having none of it when Raisa finally rushed to the scene, only to stop dead in her tracks at what was going on. "I don't care what you were going to do! You could have gotten me on the bed too! I could lose him now and it'd be all your fault!" The young girl yelled out, wanting to make him see the error of his ways. Which, yeah, totally not happening.

"Good, he was a damned pervert anyway. And as for me getting you? Nah, my aim might be impaired but its not THAT impaired." Thea screamed loudly to show her displeasure at his response as she threw her hands up in the air as tears were starting to build up and then rushed the steps to back to her room. Part of her wished she had something to throw at her asshole of a brother! But oh would she get him back if it was the last thing she'd do!

Poor Raisa was just so confused by what had happened. The fact an arrow was sticking into the wall where the doors were wasn't something she liked either. Walter hesitantly took a step towards the young man who still looked quite angry as he watched his sister run off to her room to vent her frustrations. Clearing his throat to successfully gain the young man's attention, he started to speak. "While the methed employed in dealing with young Shane was a bit… Unconventional and likely very painful. I applaud your effort in protecting your sister's dignity." He informed Oliver as he gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking back to the dining room to finish his lunch.

Looking back to where Moira was, he asked her if she was coming back with him to eat. His words shook her out of her stupor and she decided to leave things be for now as she followed the British man to finish eating. Though she was clearly shaken by what had transpired as she knew Malcolm's enforcer was also something an archery enthusiast. She did hope though that things with Shane wouldn't be too much of an issue. As it is, she was sure if his parents were informed of what he'd be doing, he would be in a fair amount of trouble.

Oliver looked in Raisa's direction as he tried to calm himself. "Hey uhh Raisa? We have any ice packs?" He was definitely gonna need it for his shoulder, not to mention he was gonna need something to take for the pain and that was something he could easily take care of thanks to the meds he had.

Shaking out of her own confused shock, she looked towards him and informed him that they did. But also told him he had better go put his tools away as it was not polite to have that in the kitchen. Grumbling to himself, he complied with her request and rushed up to stash his gear in his room, but not before making sure he grabbed each arrow he'd fired off while making sure to grab a pain killer to take when he got to the kitchen. Rushing back down, he quickly got to the kitchen to see Raisa at work putting together his ice pack. Quickly downing the pain killer with some water, he gratefully accepted the ice pack from Raisa and noticed she had that look on her face that meant she was about to lecture him over proper respect for the house. Which made him want to groan a little as those lectures could get lengthy.

**Later That Evening At Big Belly Burger**

After a lecture from Raisa, Thea's refusal to speak with him even though he could understand it, and his mom's bewildered state of shock, Oliver eventually found himself getting restless to the point he wound up calling the Diggles to see if they would be at least willing enough to get him out of the hosue for a bit. Thankfully John was actually willing himself since he didn't have much to do at the time. And so, Oliver found himself at Big Belly Burger for the past few hours ever since and generally enjoying the mix of friendly and family atmosphere the place had to it. He'd also played a really long game of Uno with Andy and Carly's son A.J. that certainly kept the both of them occupied. Something Carly was grateful about since it kept her son from being too bored at having to stay there for so long due to him being too young to stay at home by himself and his dad usually on a job while she worked. "I know I've said it already, but thank you again for agreeing to get me out of the house." Oliver told John with a grateful smile.

John nodded at him. "No problem man, I know how it feels when it comes to being restless in your own home. Imagine the Ward experience hasn't done you any favors as well." Oliver could only agree with that assessment, and while he wasn't exactly happy over John and Andy keeping certain information about Thea from him, he did understand why however as it wouldn't have done him any good while he was in the Ward.

When John learned about what he did to Thea's boyfriend, he couldn't help but laugh his butt off and wish he'd been there to see it. Hell maybe even join in! He knew Andy was going to get a good laugh from that too when he heard it and couldn't wait to tell him about it. Before more could be said, Carly's voice could be heard asking her brother in law if he would get the trash out to the dumpster. The army man got up to where she was, and Oliver, not having anything better to do decided to follow him. Carly smiled at both men when she saw them. Even though she knew that John could handle it himself, having an extra hand with the trash bucket would make it all that much quicker to deal with. "Thanks boys!" She happily told them and they both gave her a nod.

"Hey, anything for my favorite sister in law." John said jokingly, earning him a laugh from the woman.

"You hooked me up with food, so this is the least I could do." Oliver added in as he and John grabbed the handles on each side of the trash can and went on their way as Carly rolled her eyes good naturedly at them.

Once they got that taken care of, John informed Carly that he and Oliver were going to go for a walk around the area for awhile and would return soon. With a firm word to be careful from the mother, the two were off, enjoying the slight breeze of the evening despite the heat that could also be felt around them. Neither had much to say until a scream from near by caught their attention. "You wanna check that out?" Oliver asked, intending to do it either way even with his shoulder the way it is.

John, never one to let things like that go if he could help it, nodded in approval of doing it. "Calling the cops now would be useless as whoever's getting attacked would be likely too badly hurt by the time they got here. And I'm not willing to put up with that." Diggle said strongly and Oliver gave a nod of approval of his own.

Quickly walking into the alleyway that the scream had originated from, the two men could see several guys harrassing a young lady. Oliver was of the opinion that obviously these guys had never been taught how to respect a girl when she says no. "Now I don't think the girl wants you bothering her, so why not back off and go elsewhere?" The archer suggested with a hint of warning in his voice that they might want to listen.

Diggle was giving the punks a glare that was actually managing to intimidate at least one of the punks. "Hah! I don't think so guy!" One of them called out with an annoying laugh.

"And why is that?" Diggle asked questionally.

The spokesman of the bunch gave them a little smile along with another laugh as the two felt something rather unpleasant hit the back of their heads causing them to be knocked out. The ones responsible turned out to be two teenagers in wheel chairs with cooking pans in their hands, they also had proud smiles on their faces too for what they'd done. "Yeah! We got some playmates!" Called out the girl who'd been originally believed to be a target for harrassment and perhaps worse called out excitedly as the others did high fives and the like.

**Twenty Minutes Later…**

Oliver awoke with a groan and the urge to gag a bit, wondering what the Hell had happened to him and why it made his head hurt so damn much. The smell wasn't helping things either and he figured that it was likely used to get him to wake up faster. It was something he hoped he'd never smell again cause of how horrible it was. Trying to shake off how he was feeling to get a look at his surroundings wasn't going as well as he'd hoped either. Hearing another groan made him realize that he wasn't alone.  _John maybe? Definitely doesn't sound like a girl…_

He was also starting to realize that he couldn't quite seem to move either, which was annoying the crap out of him quite a bit. Someone started slapping him in order to get him to wake up a bit more. "Hey, come on now, wake up already, we got things to do and stuff."

 _Oh, how terribly sorry I am to keep you waiting! What with the groggyness and all!_ He thought with a mixture of sarcasm and scathing.

"Ugh… What happened?" Came the groggy voice of John Diggle.

"Other then getting knocked out? Not much." Oliver grumpily replied as his vision finally started to clear up for him.

Taking in what he was seeing, he realized that the area they were in only had a few sources of light and they showed that he and his friend were apparently in some run down building. And apparently with them were a bunch of people in wheelchairs and dressed similarly.  _The Hell? Is this some wheelchair convention!?_  Came the incredulous thought.

"What? Is that girl alright?" John asked as he himself tried to get his bearings.

Said girl came into view for Oliver, making him feel a bit angry for having been suckered into what was obviously a trap. "Oh I'm alright big guy! Its just that it was my turn to be the bait this time is all and stuff." Her answer made the poor army man a bit confused and it made the girl wonder if perhaps he was just hit harder then what his friend was.

Diggle shook his head, trying to clear out the cobwebs, but regretting the action after making his headache feel worse. "Bait? What do you mean you were the bait this time?"

"Duh! We do dis kinda thang to mess wit' folk like you or to get a new recruit!" One of the wheelchair bound watchers helpfully informed the two men.

Oliver was confused, wondering why the Hell a bunch of wheelchair bound and evidently not so wheelchair bound people would do this kind of thing. It couldn't be that safe for those in a chair either! Before more could be said however, a clapping could be heard, along with the sound of a whirring noise that had both of the guys looking in the direction it was coming from. Diggle was just glad to be able to see properly as he pretty much had the same thoughts as Oliver did. "Well, well, well… If it isn't my old school mate. The Dashing Prince Charming known as Oliver Queen. Although these days you look more like a street rat in bad need of a shave." Oliver frowned as the voice sounded vaguely familiar to him while Diggle looked at him wondering what he might know.

The sight of a somewhat pudgy in the stomach young man with curly brunette hair and freckles on his face soon came into view thanks to the light and Oliver's eyes widened as he recognized the guy. He could be seen wearing blue jeans, yellow sneakers, a blue t-shirt, and a red sleeveless jacket. Something that everyone else seemed to have too for that matter. "Bobby Bonson!?" He asked in shock and wondering just what in the world he had to do with these guys. He also had a slight feeling in his gut that certain actions he did regarding Bobby back in the day were about to come back to bite him in the ass.

Bobby gave a slight chuckle at seeing the punk tormentor of his high school days look so shocked at seeing him. "Yeah Queen, its me. Pity your bitch ass pal Tommy ain't here with ya." He told the archer with a sneer on his face.

 _Yup, karma's come to bite me in the ass._  Oliver thought to himself with a sigh. God why did he have to be such an ass back in the day!? All he needed now was a bunch of the girls he slept with to come out of the woodwork to add to the whole fun. And with his luck, he just jinxed himself for thinking that!

"So… You two not friends I take it?" John asked as he watched the whole thing play out in front of him.

Bobby scoffed at the vet. "Hell no, this asshat here used to be a tormentor of mine cause of this damn wheelchair I'm stuck in! Always stealing a girl from me, never letting me pass until I said 'please', other garbage I'm not gonna get into, but last but not least… HE SOMEHOW CAUSED ME TO GO FLYING DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS!" He roared out angrily, making both Oliver and John wince at the volume of his tone thanks to their headaches.

The incident he was referring too was something Bobby had long believed Oliver to have been responsible for despite the proof he had been elsewhere at the time of the accident. No matter what anyone said or did he wouldn't believe it. The wheelchair bound young man had been incredibly lucky as Hell that he didn't go flying out of the chair when it went down those steps and the fact it went on rolling after making it down the final step was another stroke of luck in everyone's view. And it had all started when a mop bucket had crashed into the back of his regular old wheelchair as he had been coming through the area when it had come flying at him. Oliver sighed agitatedly as he had no desire to be brought down into another argument over this problem. One that he thought that the therapist Bobby had been rumored to be seeing had handled, but either it hadn't worked or he somehow relapsed into that belief. "As I've said REPEATEDLY, I had NOTHING to do with that and its not my fault you refuse to believe it." The Queen Scion snapped out at the man and getting a scoff in return which clearly implied a word of what he said wasn't believed while Diggle had looked his way with a frown on his face before his eyes widened in shock.

Diggle had come to realize that his charge and friend was wearing a yellow floral patterned sundress, which made him very worried that he was wearing the same, and sure enough when he got a look at himself he was in a similar outfit. "Aw Hell no, I don't do freaky." He informed everyone with a tone that meant he was dead serious and anyone who tried it wouldn't like what he did to them. And when they got out of this mess, he was going to deck Oliver in the face for dumbass mistakes from the past now looking to bite him in the ass by association.

Oliver looked at him with a confused look on his face as everyone else snickered at them. It was then he noticed the dress the man was in and slowly looking down at himself, he realized that to his horror he was wearing the same thing! "The Hell is this!?" He demanded to know, as while he might have had some quirks here and there, he wasn't a weirdo who liked to wear dresses. Much to the displeasure of that Polish girl from a few years back that he and Sara met.

Bobby clapped his hands before rubbing them in an excited manner. "That my friends is our way of initiating new recruits! What better way to do so then public humiliation?" He asked while spreading out his arms and getting nods of approval from his group.

Diggle was incredulous of the whole situation and before he could stop himself, he started to speak up. "You… Make people wear this crap in order to bring them in? Is Kool-Aid not a requirement for cults anymore?" His question is something Oliver really wanted to have answered!

"Hey! Don't knock da WheelBound Gang!" A tan skinned skinny guy said with hair flying everywhere that was held up by a bandanna and some stubble on his chin. He was about to strike Diggle for his insult but a word from Bobby stopped him. An interesting thing to know, is that despite an eyewitness account here and there, a vast majority in the Glades and even somewhat in the rest of the city thought that the group didn't even really exist. Something Bobby actually liked as it made him and his crew less of a target to chase after by the cops or whoever else.

"Pfft… Whateva yo, youse lucky da boss stopped me from clobberin' yo ass!" The skinny man exclaimed and Diggle rolled his eyes at him.

"If you say so kid, I've faced worse then you in Afghanistan." He replied, making the man angrier but was held back from doing anything by Bobby once again.

As for Oliver in all this, he had a hard time taking Bobby seriously after learning his little gang are known as the 'WheelBound Gang' and it made him wonder just who thought that stupidity up. It was obvious that a few of them weren't in wheelchairs and it had him thinking that maybe they helped drive those who actually were in chairs around when it was needed. The archer was also really wishing he had something sharp to cut through the ropes that had his arms tied up from behind. Not to mention that it was causing issues for him where his shoulder was concerned. God how he looked forward to not having to deal with that problem anymore once it was fully healed. Course at this rate, it might take longer after this.

"Alright Bobby, you've had your fun and gotten your payback. Now just let us go and we can forget all about this." Did he really think that would work? No, not really but he wanted to try anyway.

The group leader got a crazed looking smile on his face and rolled over some more to be closer to Oliver and leaned in a little before doing anything else. "Yeeeaaah…. No, I don't think so Ollie boy. Ya see, payback's a bitch and she's my mistress in this instance! Be glad I didn't have the fellas give you and your friend over there a touch up to make your pretty little faces even prettier." The girl the two unfortunate individuals had believed to be in need of a rescue had actually pouted over not being able to do that.

As it is, she had a few ideas on how to make Bobby's rich guy really stand out thanks to a few tricks she knew. The other guy would have been a challenge but she knew she would have pulled it off! She didn't go to Beauty School for four years for nothing after all! "So here's the deal, you two are gonna get chased by a few of my fellas here for an hour or two. Also you'll be shot at, with bb guns. And you can't hit any of them. Cause who'd willingly hit a guy or girl in a wheelchair anyway? That's some bad karma right there!"

Oliver and Diggle looked at him like he had officially joined Crazy Town and was well on his way to a straight jacket with some insane crap like that! "I think that trip down the stairs messed you up in the head man." Diggle muttered aloud and got a glare from one of the followers for his words, not that he really cared cause that was hardly intimidating in the least.

Two members in their respective chairs came up behind the two and undid their bindings. The two got up and rubbed their wrists as the bindings had been rather tight. "I refuse to do this Bobby, its a high level of stupid and you know it. I'm not about to apologize either for something I didn't do either." Oliver angrily told the man and got a slap in the face from the girl who got them in this mess.

 _What is with me and girls hitting me lately!?_ He thought despondently to himself while seeing that the girl had a big smile on her face for what she'd did. He hated the thought of hitting a girl, but she was starting to push her luck with him.

"Well now, have fun boys!" Said Bobby before he started to laugh like a nut job.

The two unfortunate individuals took off while completely forgetting about the sundresses they had on in their haste to get out and as far from the area as possible. Bobby looked around the room with a smile on his face. "Well? Go and get em!" He ordered with a laugh, and soon everyone there cheered and took off in their wheelchairs, even skinny man was in on it. Though the girl decided to stay behind and have a little private time with the boss. Something she knew he wouldn't refuse her on.

**Meanwhile, with Oliver and John…**

The two were running as fast as they were able too, though Diggle was feeling somewhat limited due to the sundress but he was doing his best anyway. Coming up to a four way street, the two made a split second decision to split up. The path Diggle took would take him back to Big Belly Burger and away from this horrible nightmare. The forty members of the WheelBound Gang who were after them and firing off bb shots at them that stung a little split off to chase after their potential recruits. Diggle, despite the years he'd been away from Starling, still had a pretty good idea of where things were in the area. But the fact was those of the WheelBound Gang chasing him knew the area too just like he did. As he ran, he went past a blonde girl with black rimmed glasses who was coming out of a tech store that sold second hand parts as she'd been in the mood to put together a computer and try and make it be all sorts of kickass. Seeing a black man in a yellow sundress quite frankly shocked the ever loving heck out of her. "Sweet Google! I can't tell if the Glades is getting even more dangerous or just really weird!" She muttered to herself as she walked across the street to her car.

It was then that the members of the WheelBound Gang came rolling by, though they were few in number since the plan was to have the majority of them chase after their boss' most hated foe. But the blonde girl, having helped quite a few of them out whether in person or on the phone caused the small group to stop their pursuit. "Whoa! Hey Smoaky! Don'tcha know its a bad idea to be out this late?" One of them asked concernedly, all thoughts of chasing the big black guy gone from his mind.

The girl jumped a bit as she hadn't quite been expecting them since she was busy fumbling about in her large purse in an effort to find her keys. "Jeeze! Don't do that! I hate when someone just does that! That could give someone like me a heart attack with the whole sudden show up and talk thing when nobody knows you're there! Its like surprise hugging from behind, but that's not as scary but still a little bit. But, you know, more pleasant. And of course I know its a bad idea to be out here this late, but I really needed these second hand parts! And oh sweet Google I need to stop myself! Seriously, why doesn't anyone stop me!?" She started counting in her head as the group looked on amused at her rambling rant. They all knew why most liked to not stop her as it was just too damned amusing!

Even Bobby had come to find amusement in it the few rare times he needed IT help. The boys and two girls with the crew watched over her and even made small talk until she left the area, content that all was good, they went back to their hang out intent on doing whatever came to mind.

**With Oliver**

The archer had to admit to himself that this was the longest time he'd spent running in awhile, but even he could tell the lack of training was starting to catch up to him. But he hoped like crazy it'd at least be enough to get him the heck out of the area and away from Bobby's bunch of bozos. Honestly, who creates a gang based around those in wheelchairs! It was about as absurd as Slade's hypocritical remarks about not being able to trust anyone but yet falling for Shado! Hell, even Mirakuru was more believable then this crap! He continued forward past a building known to quite a few as CNRI, a building that always fought for the little guy in court even if the case wasn't won. Where one Dinah Laurel Lance had started working at in recent times and was already becoming known as the kind of lawyer who didn't back down from anything. And tonight she was one of the last few to leave for the night and alongside her was Tommy Merlyn and her good friend Joanna 'Jo' de la Vega.

The three took in the sight of one man running like his life depended on it in a yellow sundress of all things but it looked like he had other clothes on as well. But for Laurel, she was especially shocked due to the fact she had realized it was Oliver! Eyes widened in shock, she turned to Tommy and saw that he must have realized the same thing. Joanna, despite her own shock, walked in front of the two to see that they were far more shocked then she had been. "Uhh, you two okay?" She asked worriedly.

That seemed to snap them out of their state of shock as the two looked at her. "Uh… Yeah, just… Just fine." Tommy said though the girl could tell that was a load of crap.

"Do we REALLY want to know why Ollie is running like his life is depending on it in a dress of all things?" Laurel asked him, though of the opinion that this just might be one of those things best left alone. It also made her wonder if it was enough to warrant putting him in the Ward again.

Before Tommy or even Joanna could respond to that after she realized that apparently the two knew the weirdo, a bunch of wheelchair bound people, including Skinny Man came flying by hooting and hollering while a few of them waved their bb guns up in the air. The eyes of the three widened in surprise and shock at the sight. "They… They do exist!" Joanna managed to get out, making the other two wonder what she meant by that.

 _Well… At least we know why Ollie is running…_  Tommy thought to himself and a part of him wanted to go help him out, but the part that still felt betrayed and angered over the whole kidnapping fiasco in Hong Kong wanted him to ignore it and let Ollie handle it on his own.

As for Oliver, he finally had to stop and take a breather as he doubled over to do it. "Ugh… I need… To… Start running… More." He panted out as getting tired out like this would not be a good thing when he eventually started wearing the hood again.

Taking note of the yellow sundress, he frowned before grabbing at the top and pulling it off as he stood up to his full height despite how tired he was. Freeing himself finally of the dress, he balled it up and threw it in a nearby trash can and leaned up against a wall to have more of a breather before moving on. However, to his unfortunate luck, a bb bounced off his back and making him aware he had company coming. "YEAH! WE COMIN' FOR YO ASS FOO'!" Came the shouted promise of one particular individual, making Oliver groan in annoyance over it all.

Weighing his options, he decided then and there to try and fight the nutjobs off and maybe make another escape in the process. Looking back and seeing Skinny Man running right at him, he made a fist and prepared to strike. And as soon as Skinny Man got close to him, he wound up flipping over from the impact of Oliver's fist and on to his stomach with an audible 'oof!' from the man. The other members were simply too stunned by what they saw, but it soon gave way to anger at seeing one of their own get downed like that by a potential newbie. They started firing off bb's at him and thinking quickly as well as thanking whoever, he grabbed a fallen piece of cardboard and put it in front of his face to block off the annoying projectiles.  _I know I'm gonna get more bad karma for this, but I'm gonna have to fight these morons if I want to get out of here._  He thought resignedly and was glad there was no Paparazzi around to witness what he was about to do.

Pressing forward, he quickly grabbed the closet bb gun that he could see while manuerving as best he could to see it and yanked it out of the hands of what looked to be a teenager. The kid nearly went out of the chair too but was rocked backwards painfully when he was hit solidly in the nose. Oliver winced, not only from the pain in his hand, but at the fact that karma was likely going to bite him in the ass for that. The other members of the group got pretty angry at seeing one of their own get hit like that. "Hey! That's not cool man!" One of them yelled out unhappily.

Oliver looked at her with a look that said he clearly didn't give a crap what she thought of his actions, something that only served to anger her. "What's not cool is you idiots chasing me around." He knew his insult would likely get them riled up but he didn't care anymore. If he had too, he'd put them all down right here and now!

And before he knew it, three of the group were out of their chairs and charging at him as the others tended to the one who's nose he'd hit pretty hard. Glaring at the three coming at him, he charged at them as well and soon it was a vicious fight between three on one and despite his lack of training due to other issues, he was proving to be the better fighter and had a feeling the three were going to be spending some time in the hospital. It'd probably get them and the rest out for his blood but he'd deal with it as best as he could. The cheers of the others had died out while they alternated on checking to see if their friend was okay and watching the fight. After downing the last of the three fighters, he turned a glare towards the others but to his dis-satisfaction didn't seem to deter them any.

"You gonna pay for that!" The girl who'd spoken previously told him very angrily.

"Good luck with that, cause I'll be sure to have the last laugh. Now, you can all run off back to your little hidey hole like good little idiots. Or I can start hurting all of you and worry about the guilt later. What's it gonna be?" Neither of those options were something they liked and it led to a stare off between him and the group.

Skinny Man had yet to get back up and it was possible he was knocked out after landing hard like he did. Oliver suddenly had an idea and hoped it would work. Though he knew if Slade was around, he'd likely hit him upside the head for the sheer idiocy, but hey, it didn't hurt to try. "Hey! Look!" He exclaimed while pointing his finger in a random direction.

Much to his immense happiness, the group fell for it and he took off into a nearby alley like a bat out of Hell. "There's nothing there!" The girl who'd spoken previously pointed out annoyed. She then looked to where Oliver used to be and screamed out her frustration at not seeing him. Something that drew in the attention of the others who added in their own groans of frustration.

"The boss is not gonna be happy about this!" A member in his early twenties muttered aloud and getting agreements.

"Yeah well… We'll deal with that later, right now let's make some calls and get our guys out of here." The screamer told them and they all quickly got to it as best as they were able too.

It'd taken a cab and him thanking whoever yet again that the idiots in red hadn't stolen anything from him that he finally managed to get home and anyone could tell he was exhausted. He also made sure to fire off a text to Diggle to let the man know he was okay. Though he got told they were going to have a long talk the next time they saw one another. He would have groaned at that but his exhaustion was simply too much at the time for it. Making his way inside to his home, Walter happened to be the first to see him and had he not been so tired he would have questioned why the man was there so late, but alas he didn't and a certain secret remained a secret.

"Good Lord son, what happened!?" The man asked in alarm. Oliver looked up at him and the older man could see how worn out the boy was.

"I… Really don't wanna talk about it right now." He muttered tiredly, and Walter nodded his understanding.

"Right, get some rest son as you clearly need it." Sage advice given, Oliver heeded the words and gave a man a nod before trudging slowly up the stairs, glad as Hell this whole damn night was over with.

Walter was unsure if he should say anything to Moira or wait til a more appropriate time when he, Moira, and Oliver were in the same room together to inquire about it. As whatever happened tonight appeared to have been quite the event if the young man's current state was anything to go by.  _Hmm.. Yes I think the second option is best, I've little doubt young Oliver would like having his mother questioning him now while in the state he's in._ He knew though that Moira likely would not be pleased but he was positive he could handle that.

**The Following Monday…**

Oliver could be seen looking very much like a couch potato as he rested his feet on the table in front of him and was not bothering to sit up properly as channels were changed as he tried somewhat to find something to watch. Thea had yet to say a word to him and then to top it off, Walter, during a visit brought up his appearance from Friday night when his mom was in the same room. And boy had it been a ton of fun explaining that and attempting to reassure his mother that both he and John Diggle were okay. A door could suddenly be heard getting slammed closed and it made him wonder who was that angry to do that and risk gaining the ire of both Raisa and his mother.

"OLLIEEEE! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" The voice of his beloved sister roared out and he raised his eyebrows at that and guessed that things with Shane hadn't gone well, which was just fine with him. And the only reason he'd even knew about it is thanks to a little eavesdropping he'd done earlier in the day.

Had he not put his attention back on the tv, he would have noticed Thea seeing where he was and the evil smirk she got. "Ohhh Ollie…" She called out, drawing his attention to her.

And the one thing that instantly caught his eye was several Roman Candles in one hand, several Roman Candles that were lit at that and she was pointing it right at him! "Its not much, but it'll do for now." She informed him with that evil smirk of hers still in place.

Oliver quickly found himself having to dodge everything that came from the candles as she laughed her head off at the sight. The laughter turned into a shriek when the candles ran out and he took to chasing after her. Raisa, who'd heard the commotion soon appeared in the front room and was not pleased by the sight of the Roman Candles on the floor and the smokey atmosphere of the room. Thea wound up grounded for that stunt for about a week and was told she was lucky a fire hadn't happened. Andy and John had to get involved to ensure she came home as part of her grounding. The smug grin her brother gave her anytime they saw one another ensured a great plan was forming in her head on how to get him back.

She may have lost Shane for good, but she wasn't about to lose the war with her brother!  _As the saying goes Ollie, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! And I am scorned!_ Shane would get his too for not being more willing to fight for her but that would take a little time as she needed to focus on her brother first.

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**Author's Notes: And there we have it folks! Hope you all enjoyed a certain cameo in this chapter and generally over all enjoyed the chapter itself! And happy 4th of July everyone! Up next, July 4th has arrived and with it, the fight of the year between a Queen and a Merlyn! Plus Thea starts the day off with a bang! Same Wrecks channel, same Wrecks time (next weekend most likely)! R and R!**


	39. Queen vs. Merlyn, And Let's Not Forget Thea's Vengeance!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. And your quote of the day is… "Ole!" Courtesy of the one and only El Generico. Or now known more commonly as Sammi Zayne. Anywho.. On with the show!**

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The morning of July 4th had arrived at long last and the days leading up to it had been quite loud. Of course Oliver resolved to stay indoors until it was all over as he wasn't quite sure how he'd be able to handle the loud noises outside of something while out in his gear. Of course his sister seemed to think he was lying about his reasoning for possibly being not able to handle it and was actually more worried about her trying something against him again like in the front room. Naturally he scoffed when she told him that but on the inside he was worried she'd try another stunt. And so far she had yet to do anything and he wasn't sure if he should start being more paranoid about things or start to relax. Unfortunately for him, one Thea Queen was finally ready to enact her revenge on her interfering brother and had felt that today of all days was the best time for it. The girl even brought in a friend to help record what she had in mind with a camera so that she could send the footage to Tommy who she knew would get a good laugh from the whole thing.

Plus, the fact she intended to put it up on Youtube would mean it'd gain a whole bunch of laughs. Raising up a long pack of Black Cats, she flicked on a lighter and set the exposed fuse on fire and quickly threw the soon to be exploding fireworks off after having already opened the door as quietly as she could so as not to wake up her brother. She had also already ensured her friend had the camera recording.  _Payback time you intefering ass!_  Despite her earlier payback some days ago with the Roman Candle, she wanted to do more and this would ultimately be that. The fact Shane still refused to talk to her only served to further infuriate her and had already gotten payback on him for being a coward when it came to her brother.

His insulting her brother hadn't helped matters either, and while she may be mad as Hell at her big brother, she wasn't about to let anyone get away with insulting him. She quickly covered her ears when the Black Cats started going off and what she and her friend saw would remain with the both of them for years to come. As once the fireworks went off, Ollie was out of his bed and rushing around in a panic while thankfully for Thea's state of mind wearing pants. "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! Shado! Find Slade and tell him to stop messing with his special juice as we gotta do something quick! Sara, tell Anatoly to fire up the Sub and make sure the missiles are ready! Ack! I'm hit! I gotta get out of the area!" The hit he spoke of was actually one of the Black Cats blowing up near his foot and him being unfortunate enough to feel it.

Rushing out while throwing a shirt over his head and thinking its actually a helmet, the two girls quickly got out of the way as he continued to freak out while issuing orders. "Akio! Your mom's sword isn't gonna help with this! Where's your dad!?" The two girls looked at one another bewildered as Hell before rushing off to continue recording.

The highly confused Oliver rushed past Raisa, with the two girls not far behind while laughing their butts off at the whole thing. The poor woman was terribly confused by what she'd witnessed and decided that perhaps it was best she went after the trio.  _Why does_ _Mr. Oliver_ _seem to think we're under attack!?_

Oliver by now had made it outside and even had John Diggle chasing after him and the girls after he'd decided to come by to see if Thea or even Oliver planned to go out and buy some fireworks before the stands got too crowded. The sight of his new friend running around a shirt on his head and shouting out about being under attack alarmed him, though the sight of Thea and some other girl with what looked to be a camera while they bothed laughed their butts off confused him a little and him thinking that maybe somehow they had something to do with what was going on. "Where the Hell's Waller when you need her!?" The highly confused archer shouted out before ultimately falling flat on his back after slipping on some mud thanks to a little rain from the night before.

"Oof! Man down! I repeat, man down! Save yourselves and forget about me!" He muttered dazedly before passing out thanks to having also hit his head on the damp grass.

Thea and her friend rushed over to him with laughter still coming from them, though Oliver's little sister was a bit worried after having seen him fall. Leaning over him as they recorded more of him, Thea spoke up. "And THAT ladies and gentlemen, is called payback! And no worries, I'm very sure he's fine." She said while staring into the camera with a smile.

"Thea!" John called out as he got to them and the camera was quickly shut off and hidden before he could get it from the other girl.

The former soldier glared at the Queen girl and she noticably winced. "I have no idea what happened but he could be hurt now after it." He told her sternly.

Crouching down to check on his friend, he gave the archer a few light slaps to try and wake him up. "But mommy… The special juice doesn't go well with pancakes..." Muttered Oliver as he struggled back to consciousness, forcing both girls to stiffle a giggle lest they get reprimanded again by the bodyguard.

John sighed to himself and got on the task of picking the younger man up. Slinging him over his shoulder as gently as he could, he and the girls set off back towards the mansion while Oliver could be heard muttering again. "But I don't wanna be on the merry go round…" The girls couldn't help but let out a giggle after that comment.

**Two Hours Later at Laurel's**

After Tommy had made a surprise visit to her apartment with breakfast, one Laurel Lance had gone to get ready for work, leaving Tommy by himself to heavily consider kicking himself for not having the courage to tell her he wants to try and be more serious with her. Even though he knows she's not that likely to believe him, but he would have tried his best. He thought that maybe her disbelief is why he hadn't been able to do it yet as he was highly afraid of her reaction and potential outright rejection. Something he figured would have stemmed from her previous experiences with Ollie. The young man frowned to himself when he thought of his best friend, the same best friend who willingly kidnapped him once in Hong Kong. A best friend he hadn't talked too since the day he had learned about that particular incident. He still had trouble accepting what happened even if it did happen for a damn good reason.

He was glad though that he worked out issues with Laurel as her not talking with him had honestly sucked a lot. And it had taken quite awhile before he finally figured out why she got so mad at him, and when he did finally figure it out, he had rushed over and made a huge apology to her that thankfully she accepted but gave him a warning not to talk a lot about Ollie. Something he accepted as he didn't want to get on her badside again. A ping grabbed his attention and pulling out his phone, he saw that he had a notification from Thea. Wondering what she would be texting him for this early in the day, he looked at it and to his confusion found himself looking at a video titled 'A Queen's Revenge.' A bit curious, he hit play and before long he was laughing quite hard at what he was seeing.  _Go Thea!_ He cheered in his head as he continued to laugh.

It was then that Laurel came from the bathroom dressed for the day while drying off her hair. Seeing Tommy laughing his butt off was a little unusual as he wasn't really the type to do that unless he happened to be pretty drunk. "Tommy?" She asked questioningly and instantly gaining his attention with a huge smile to be seen on his face.

He walked over to her while chuckling. "Oh you are gonna love this." He informed her, which instantly made her curious.

And soon, even Laurel Lance was laughing her butt off at seeing what Thea did to her older brother and the reaction he had to her deviousness. "That… That's gonna be with me all day!" The lawyer said happily with a laugh and resolved to take the young girl out to lunch as soon as she could.

She idly wondered if she should show this to her dad as well. As knowing him, he would be likely to get some enjoyment out of it too.

**Later That Evening**

After the horrible prank pulled on him by his sister earlier in the day that left him with a headache for awhile, Oliver hadn't exactly been in a good mood, learning that she and her friend had put that damned video recording on the internet hadn't helped his mood either. But today was the day he had decided that the silence between him and Tommy had gone on long enough and had gotten the driver to bring him to Tommy's place. The sounds of fireworks unnerved him a little but he kept his focus on talking to Tommy as best he could. He hoped this wouldn't be an issue when it came to things possibly blowing up while out and about under the hood. But determined it'd just be yet another bridge to deal with when the time came. It had taken quite a bit of convincing with his mother to let him go without a bodyguard as he didn't want to keep any of them from their families, but thankfully in the end she relented once she saw how important this was to him. Now if she knew what the end result was, she may have been more insistent on ensuring a bodyguard went with him to keep things from happening.

Something that would later get him a chewing out after he came home and she saw the state he was in. But that's for later, and this is the now and jumping ahead of ourselves is a bad idea. Staring the door to Tommy's room for several minutes before finally bringing himself to knock on the door a few times. Satisified with his actions after hearing his friend's voice and glad he hadn't left just yet, he awaited the opening of the door. And if Tommy had known it wasn't Laurel on the otherside and instead it being Oliver, he might not have opened it up to begin with. "What? What are you doing here?" Tommy asked unhappily, causing Oliver to wince a little at the tone in his best friend's voice.

Steeling himself for what was likely to come, Oliver started to talk. "I came here… I came here in the hopes that we could talk things out."

Tommy eyed him, while wondering if Ollie hit his head a lot harder then anyone thought he might have if he honestly thought a talk would solve anything! As for him, it was going to take more then just a simple talk and he had other things to do tonight. "Sorry but not tonight, maybe some other time." He finally said, noticing the unhappy expression on his best buddy's face. That's life for ya when you don't get what you are after.

He was about to close the door too in the hopes it'd make Ollie get the hint and go away, but the motion was stopped when the other man put a firm hand on the door to keep it from being closed. "This cold silence between us has gone on long enough, I don't give a crap right now about what you have planned as this is far more important." Oliver said in a steely voice, and Tommy sighed as evidently his buddy had no plans to be deterred tonight.

"Damn it." He muttered to himself as he swung the door back open and reluctantly gestured to the Queen Scion to come in. As he knew from experience that a determined Ollie was not easily if ever stopped. And this version of his friend was likely a lot more intense with that too.

Tommy glared at the back of his friend as he closed the door and walked off to the bar he had in his apartment, which he always thought was a great accessory to have in the place. Especially when it came to house parties. Getting out two shot glasses and pouring in some Jack Daniels in both, he looked up at his friend who was still looking around at the place as if it taking it all in. And if he took a moment to really think on it, he supposed it would have made sense since he hadn't been in the place in a long while. "So, the great and powerful Ollie Queen finally came to my humble abode because he couldn't stand the silence between us huh?" Came his question laced in annoyance and irritation as he walked around the bar to hand the other man his drink.

Something Ollie denied and causing Tommy to frown since the man wasn't really all that known to deny a drink. His friend then looked at him after looking at the drink. "Can't mix alcohol with the meds." He helpfully informed him, only to get a scoff in return. Naturally if Tommy wasn't so damn angry with him he wouldn't be acting like an ass.

"So? Shouldn't let that stop ya." Really, he shouldn't as Ollie Queen without drink in hand is simply not done. That and he thought if he kept acting like an ass, Ollie would finally leave.

Oliver sighed and tried to keep himself from being too annoyed with how his best friend was acting. "Yeah well, I am. Now, can we please get serious?" He requested as he really wanted things to be okay between the two of them again.

Tommy chuckled, though there wasn't much humor or joy to be heard in it. "You? You don't get serious about anything." He replied before gulping down his drink and insisting Ollie take his.

The casual dismissal of his inability to take anything seriously back in the day served to send yet another reminder to the archer of the many regrets he had about the way he acted before the Island. Tommy's insistence to drink the alcohol though was getting quickly getting annoying too and before he could stop himself, he knocked it out of the other man's hand and on to the floor with a resounding smash as the glass broke into pieces. Tommy stared at it and then gave Oliver a glare, something he was only too happy to return. "I said no thanks, and these days I do get serious."

The Merlyn Scion scoffed at that. "Serious enough to kidnap me." He told him sarcastically.

"I did that to save your life!" Oliver bit back.

Tommy shook his head in denial at that. "Oh yeah, I'm just sure you did. Probably wanted a laugh at my expense." He said bitterly before going and pouring himself another drink.

The archer growled a little at the accusation as he watched his friend pour himself another shot of Daniels. Tommy turned around with a little smirk in place and raised his glass up as if seemingly giving him a toast. "To supposed friends that kidnap their friends, may they be in abundance." He said mockingly and went to drink from his shot glass, but Oliver oh so helpfully knocked that out of his hand and on to the floor to shatter.

"You are paying for that." Tommy told him angrily and this time it was Oliver's turn to scoff.

"I'm paying for enough as it is, and besides, I think you can afford to clean it yourself. And in no way in Hell did I kidnap you for a laugh. I did that because it was the ONLY way to save your ass! Because if I hadn't done that, someone else would have put a bullet in you." He told him hotly.

Tommy angrily turned around and reached for the bottle of Jack Daniels and took a long drink from it as he turned back around to face Ollie. Taking the bottle from his mouth, he launched into a tirade about how he could have done better then what he did as the experience had been some horrible crap to go through and still had damn nightmares about it from time to time. How if Ollie really truly cared, he would have tried even harder to get in to contact with his family and friends. Oliver could only watch as his friend went off on him and come to realize just how naive his friend could be. If he really knew a damn thing he wouldn't be saying what he did. And in a fit of anger, Oliver roughly grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels and hurled it at a wall and watched in satisfaction as it shattered messily against it before turning back to Tommy.

"You are so damn ignorant of things Tommy. I tried, I TRIED what I could, but the agency who had me always were a step ahead of me no matter what I tried. They would have done ANYTHING at the time to keep anyone from learning about my being alive. That threat is why I still HAVEN'T spoken against them for fear of my mom and sister's lives. Not to mention the lives of others I am close too. Am I sorry what I did gave you nightmares and who knows what else? Yes, yes I am. But I would damned well do it again if I had too in order to keep you, my mother, my sister, Raisa, any of the Lances, and whoever else alive. So think next time instead of claiming I did it for a laugh."

The dark haired man's eyes had widened considerably after hearing all that, the parting shot though only added on to his anger after his bottle of Jack Daniels went flying into the wall. And before he could stop himself, he threw a punch right into his best friend's jaw. "Ow!" He yelled out as he rubbed his hand due to not doing things like that as Oliver stumbled back a bit in shock.

Oliver re-gained his balance and looked at Tommy in a mix of shock and anger. "You hit me!" He called out while attempting to keep himself from responding in kind.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna do it again you asshole! Cause I am NOT ignorant!" With a yell, he charged at Oliver, only for the man to sidestep him and watch as he stumbled and wind up falling hard onto a coffee table.

The weight of Tommy instantly broke the table as well, making Oliver wince a little. Struggling to get up with a groan, he gave his attention to Oliver and the archer could see that his friend was really angry now. And moving with a speed that surprised even Oliver, the blonde haired man found himself painfully hitting the side of the bar. Gathering his strength and doing his best to ignore the pain he felt, Oliver threw Tommy into the side of the couch before standing up and trying to catch his breath.  _Damn, I am out of shape._  He muttered to himself in his head.

"Had enough?" The archer wasn't sure what possessed him to ask that but he did hope his buddy did have enough as he wasn't wanting to hurt him.

He got a glare in return for that and Tommy forced himself to get up. "Hell no I haven't had enough. I owe you and I'm gonna get my due!" He threw a punch that Oliver easily caught in his hand, making Tommy growl in anger before raising up and headbutting his longtime friend in the face.

The force of the headbutt caused Oliver to stagger back a bit and he was sure he could feel blood on his face now after that. Tommy, seeing his chance, rushed his friend and delivered a blow to the midsection that sent the other man to his knees. The darker haired man knew he wasn't that good of a fighter and he also knew his friend wasn't either. Well, unless that somehow changed while he was away but he doubted it. An idea suddenly hit Oliver's mind as he tried to catch his breath after that cheap shot and it'd been something he saw Shado try a few times on Slade during a few spars. Moving quickly, he spun and shot out his leg, Tommy not expecting that at all, suddenly found himself on his back rather hard and painfully.

Oliver stood over him as he panted and was glad as Hell Tommy had hit him in the forehead even though it hurt like crazy. "For your sake, just stay down." He muttered as he walked off.

Now if Oliver had known that was going to have the opposite effect to what he hoped it would have, he wouldn't have ever said it to begin with as he found himself with one Tommy Merlyn on his back. The two struggled as one attempted to use his weight to bring the other down to his knees. What neither of them knew was that they had an audience of one on the otherside of the door who was growing quite alarmed by all the sounds she kept hearing. With a yell, Oliver threw Tommy off his back and onto the couch, only to receive a surprise kick to the head that would later have even Tommy wondering what got him to do it. Seeing his friend stumble backwards in pain, the Merlyn Scion took his chance and rushed him again. But Oliver was able to stop him with a hard punch to the face and soon the two were trading blows and dragging one another around the apartment.

Oliver had the advantage due to his training thanks to both Slade and Shado, but his lack of training in recent times was doing him no favors. But he was doing marginally better then what Tommy was thankfully enough. He wondered though on how the Hell his friend was managing to keep up like he did. A right hook sent him stumbling into a wall again and gave him enough time to look at his hopefully still best friend. "After… huff… After I got back… huff… I took a few lessons." The man got out between gasps for breath.

Well don't that beat all? Still, he had the upper hand thanks to his ASIS training. The two were having trouble standing and they both knew they were going to need medical assistance soon thanks to how the fight was surprisingly brutal. Oliver hadn't left the wall yet as he didn't think he'd be able to stand on his own and damn was his shoulder aching! Their clothing was torn in various places and blood was pouring down their faces as Tommy stared him down while struggling to stay standing up. Oliver had a pretty good feeling they were both gonna be bruised all over and boy wouldn't that be fun to deal with in addition to any stitches that might be needed?

Their audience of one had had enough and made her way inside and was instantly shocked by the chaos she saw inside. Not entirely sure she was glad now for the door having been unlocked. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" One Dinah Laurel Lance bellowed out.

The two fighters stared at her in shock. "L-Laurel!" Tommy got out while Oliver just stared on and prayed she wouldn't join in as he vaguely remembered her getting some training thanks to her dad in self defense.

She gave the two a glare with her hands on her hips. "Well?" She demanded, wanting to know what the two idiots were thinking when she and Tommy were supposed to be going out.

It was Tommy who answered and surprising Oliver in the end too. "Oh… You know… Just us having guy talk." He told her but he doubted it was enough to sound convincing. Especially the arching of an eyebrow at him.

"Uh-huh." Was all she said as she kept glaring at them.

Setting down her purse on the top of the bar, she turned back to give them her attention. "Well, why don't the two of you go sit down on the couch and I'll get you some ice packs." Tommy nodded at that and slowly walked to the couch while Oliver tried to move from the wall.

Laurel noticed this and frowned a little while surprisingly feeling some concern for him. "Are you okay?" She asked as she walked over to him.

He shook his head in denial as he didn't quite feel like trying to make an attempt to lie about how he was feeling. "No, out of practice and its showing… I can barely move right now." He informed her and while she was curious by what he meant exactly about being out of practice, she did have a better understanding now.

Grabbing an arm of his and ignoring the groan he gave out over it, she helped him get over the touch and tried to help him sit down gently. Once that was accomplished and satisfied that he was leaning back into the couch which thankfully hadn't been entirely ruined by the fight between the two boys, she went off to make them their ice packs and maybe even plan on what she would say when she eventually berated the two of them. The two looked at one another and for whatever reason, they started to chuckle a bit. "This… This isn't exactly what I had in mind." Oliver told him, causing Tommy to laugh again.

"Oh I bet, and I'm sorry for the way things turned out. I know you had good intentions and my anger got the better of me." He said sincerely and got a nod for it return.

"As I've come to learn, life has a crappy way of throwing things at you that either makes you sink or swim. And so far I've done my best to swim." Tommy considered that and thought it actually sounded pretty good. Though he was a bit saddened his friend had learned that the hard way and hoped he wouldn't have to learn a similar lesson in such a way either. His kidnapping experience was as close to that as he hoped he'd ever get.

"So, are we cool now?" Oliver asked hesitantly, something that surprised even Tommy.

"Yeah, yeah we're cool. Just please, don't ever do something like that again."

Oliver looked at him before replying. "I can't make any promises, but hopefully it won't come down to that anytime soon if at all." Tommy nodded and realized that was likely the best he was going to get.

He also realized it was high time he told the man a certain secret about himself and Laurel. And since it sounded like she was still busy making those ice packs, he had just enough time to do it. "So there's uhh… Something I need to uhh... Well… Something I need to tell you. Its about, well its about Laurel." Gulping a little when he got an intense look mixed with some worry in it from Ollie, he continued on as he didn't want to keep this a secret anymore.

"Laurel and I have been kind of sort of seeing one another. But she refuses to let it go any further into a relationship. And I know this is gonna piss you off and all and I'm sorry. I really am, but I care about her and things just wound up happening one day. I'm not sure how she feels at all since she tends to dodge it, but I think she does care on some level." He finished sounding somewhat depressed while Oliver just looked on, cursing the fact that she likely was doing this because of how he had done her. But knew any action on his part would probably be a bad idea and maybe make things worse.

"If you're expecting me to start acting like a jealous and angry ex, then you can stop worrying about it. I have absolutely NO right to do that, and besides… I've known awhile now." He admitted and smirked when he saw the shocked reaction from his best friend and brother in all but blood.

"What? How? Did Thea tell you!?" Tommy asked surprised as Hell.

Laurel looked up from what she was doing and frowned a little wondering what that was about exactly. The mention of Thea had her wondering if perhaps Ollie had found out about herself and Tommy. But she had news for her ex if he thought he could say something on it. Going back to what she was doing and finishing it up, she sealed up the ice packs and made her way over to them while listening in on the conversation between the two idiots.

"Nah, she didn't tell me anything. I just happened to see the two of you one night a few months ago is all." Laurel and even Tommy was wondering about that, he saw them but they didn't see him? It made them wonder how the heck he pulled it off!

"And before it gets asked, no, I wasn't following either of you. I was already out doing something that night." He helpfully informed the both of them without really realizing it.

"Well good to know you haven't developed stalker tendencies then Ollie." Laurel cut in as she walked in front of the two and leaned down a little to hand them their ice packs. Something both of the boys took gratefully.

Tommy put his on his forehead since he had a huge headache from headbutting Ollie in his forehead earlier while Oliver put his on his shoulder that he hopefully didn't screw up even more. As he really wasn't looking to be on the bench longer then he already was having to be on. Both sighed in contentment as the cold effects of the ice started their work on them. There was silence for several minutes while Laurel looked around her at the wrecked state of the apartment and could barely believe the two had caused so much damage.  _Good thing Tommy can afford to get it all fixed up or he'd be in trouble._  She mused to herself and realized her more vindictive side was a little unhappy over a missed chance to put Ollie in his place since he didn't say anything that would have possibly been hypocritical on his end.

"Tommy." Oliver said suddenly, surprising both from his sudden speaking while his eyes were closed.

The mentioned Merlyn looked towards his best friend curiously and wondered what was up. "Yeah buddy?"

The archer opened his eyes and looked towards Tommy. "Don't repeat my mistakes where Laurel's concerned or I'll kick your ass again." Well that was surprising of him to say and Laurel couldn't help but feel slightly touched by that. She knew he could be really caring when he wanted to be and this was one of those examples of that.

"Thank you for being willing to defend my honor Ollie, but I'd just as soon appreciate it if you didn't get involved at all." The girl told him with a look that told him she wasn't going to be arguing about it.

He only nodded as he figured he was getting off light for that, he could hear Tommy scoffing though and gave him his attention again. "You kick my ass? You're welcome to try bro, but I think I'll be the one doing the ass kicking instead." Tommy boasted, while happy his brother was willing to do that on Laurel's behalf. And hoped he would be able to do right by Laurel as she is worth it.

Oliver just looked at his friend for a moment. "We'll see man, we'll see." Is all he decided to say and then flinched when a loud firecracker went off outside.

"You alright?" Tommy asked concernedly as he had noticed the flinch when the noise happened. Laurel herself was curious but decided to stay silent and wondered if maybe she should leave since going out now would be a bad idea with the state Tommy's in.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." And as if countering his statement, several more firecrackers went off and he flinched again. He realized this was something he was going to have to deal with sooner rather than later.

Laurel raised her eyebrows at the sight and wondered how he was going to handle this. Thea's little trick earlier couldn't have helped matters anyway from the way he reacted. Tommy just hoped this wouldn't mean his best friend would have to go back to the Ward if he wasn't able to deal with things like this. He also didn't think now was a good time to say anything either, and since the date he and Laurel were going to go on was pretty much out the question due to how he looked and felt. He figured maybe the three of them if Laurel was willing, could just watch a movie to try and help Ollie stay focused on something else til everyone ran out of fireworks to explode. "Soo… How about a movie?" He suggested with a smile and got looks in return for it.

"So long as its not having anything to do with being ship wrecked I'm good." Oliver muttered and the two could understand that as it probably would dredge up memories he probably didn't want to deal with right now. As it is, Laurel could see that Ollie was clenching his free hand into a fist rather hard and probably making his knuckles look rather white too from the action.

"Yeah that's totally fine, I wasn't even thinking of that anyway." Laurel doubted that claim but decided it was best to not voice it. And since neither of the two were likely to get up anytime soon after their moronic fight, she realized it was up to her to pick the movie. And pick she did and even did a fine job of keeping Oliver occupied as it was something he missed due to being gone for so long.

However he eventually fell asleep an hour into the film and both Tommy and Laurel were glad he was able to do so despite all the noise from outside thanks to everyone celebrating the 4th. The lawyer wasn't sure where things would go from here after tonight as she still had issues regarding her ex, but she would deal with it as it all came. Especially where Tommy was concerned as she didn't feel like she could quite trust him just yet with her heart thanks to her experiences with Ollie. Laurel didn't think Tommy would stick around for much longer so long as she kept him at arm's length aside from certain events. But she was aware that life could throw you a curveball at least. One thing came to mind however, why in the world was Ollie in a dress!? That was something she planned to ask very soon and with Tommy at her side when it happened.

"First thing we do when he wakes up later is a trip to the hospital." Laurel informed Tommy just loud enough for him to hear yet not wake up Ollie. Tommy winced as that was not going to be pleasant but nodded at her. He had a feeling Ollie's mom was gonna freak out when she saw the state of her son and probably give both him and Ollie a lecture about fighting. But at least it would show she gave a damn at least.

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**Author's Notes: And there we are folks! May you all have enjoyed this one! Especially the beginning. I hope the way I handled things between Tommy and Oliver was done pretty well too. I'll be getting on to updating my other stories very soon hopefully and many apologies on the wait for those. See you all soon and R and R!**


	40. When Yama Met Shiro

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. And holy moly, I never expected to reach as far as chapter 40! Huge thanks to everyone for the support of this story!**

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**July 14th, 2010, Queen Mansion**

Things had been a bit on the peaceful side since the 4th and it was something Oliver had really appreciated. Granted the day after the 4th when he and Tommy had shown up at the Queen Mansion hadn't exactly been a quiet one considering their states after the fight they had. Both of the boys had gotten a long lecture from not only Moira, but from Raisa as well in how they should handle their issues more maturely rather than fighting it out. Laurel mentioning the state of Tommy's apartment hadn't helped matters either but thankfully Moira agreed to keep Malcolm out of the loop after Tommy had to weedle her long enough until she agreed. Both had needed stitches and Oliver was told he was lucky the fight didn't screw up his healing shoulder but was warned to take it very easy or he'd be in some trouble otherwise.

Not wanting to fight on that, he nodded his understanding and had been doing his best to take things even more easier then what he'd already been doing. Much to his horror however, his mother and Raisa were both being even more attentive afterwards. Something Thea got a good laugh from until he smugly reminded her of the trouble she was in after her little Black Cats stunt in his room. That had her stick her tongue out at him in retaliation but he wisely did nothing else after as he knew it was what she wanted. Unfortunately that didn't work entirely as he had hoped as the next day he woke up with a bunch of apples in his bed, the screaming brought everybody there at the mansion to his room rather quickly too. When he mentioned all this to his therapists, both of them had gotten a good laugh out of it before telling him he needed to find some way to reconcile with her. They also mentioned the fight with Tommy could have been prevented, but they were happy he had patched things up with his friend.

Not even lectures from Raisa and their mother seemed enough to deter her from being a pain in his butt. He figured that maybe if he didn't react to any of her juvenile actions against him that she would eventually quit. It was something to try at least anyway. But he was at least thinking of ways he could get back at her that wouldn't result in a long lecture from their mother. He thought that maybe if he got his therapists to talk with her it might help some too. Something he'd bring up with them the next time he was there even if Anna wasn't around. Currently the archer was in the kitchen making himself a snack to tide himself over until dinner despite Raisa's remark about him spoiling his dinner. Something that he said was impossible as her cooking could never be spoiled for him, earning a beaming smile and a hug and kiss on the cheek in return as well.

Satisified with his chicken sandwich, he went about his way, intent on going back to his room when foreign voices caught his attention. Checking it out, he saw several Chinese men in business suits in the foyer with his mother and Walter and figured it must be a business thing. "Wenhou, nin de cunzai zheli dai lai wo de weida rongyu." He said to them in Chinese with a slight bow of his head. Figuring it would be a good idea to be respectful since they were guests in the house. Something his old self would never have done.

The action greatly surprised Moira and Walter, but more so Moira due to how she knew her son could be back before the Island. She was pleased though he had chosen to be respectful towards the guests as any rudness would not have been a good thing when trying to ensure a deal went through with them. Walter had heard that the young man never had much interest in languages and thought that his time away was a bit on the educational side of things. The three businessmen all bowed their heads as Oliver had moments ago to him before the one in the lead who's hair was graying spoke to him. "Ni rongyu women tong nin de hua nianqing Queen." The lead said with a smile while on the inside honestly surprised by the respect the boy was giving him. The fact he knew Chinese was another surprise too, but it seemed his time away while believed to be dead had proven to be very beneficial in his maturing.

Moira was wondering if her son's apparent new found ability to speak Chinese could be useful when it came to future meetings with those from China as her own Chinese wasn't that great unlike Walter's. She knew though he might be unwilling unless there wasn't much choice in the matter. "Guanyu binke zai nin de jia shi zhiyao zhengque." Oliver responded back and gained a nod from the older man.

Had Oliver known what this little act would get his mom to thinking about, he might not have done anything like this. But done it he had as he continued on to his room, leaving a surprised Moira and Walter behind as the three men considered the young man they had previously met and concluded that they were pleased to see a less foolish boy as he had been known to be before them. "Well, he was in Hong Kong for some time..." Moira muttered to herself before indicating to Walter that they should get on with business.

**Two Hours Later…**

One Thea Queen could be seen casually strolling through the hallway near the living room when the telephone started to ring, and seeing that she was pretty much the only one around, she went ahead and answered it. Of course she wondered why they even kept it since they all had cell phones and if one couldn't be reached, calling the other would work just as well and figured she might go ahead and say something about it to her mom. "Hello? Thea Queen speaking." She said into the receiver after answering it.

" _My name is Maseo Yamashiro and I need to speak with Oliver Queen please._ " Came a foreign sounding voice that was at least respectful if a bit urgent as well in what he was asking for, definitely beats that Waller lady for sure in her view.

Deciding not to mess around this time, she called out for her brother. "Ollie! An Amseo Hambero is asking for you!" She called out as she had a hunch he might be in the living room as it was one of the places he liked to frequent a lot in the house when not in his room. And so yeah, she would mess around at least a little.

And she turned out to be right as her brother was in fact in the living room after their mom and Walter's meeting with the Chinese business men had concluded about forty minutes ago. She smiled when she saw the confused expression on her brother's face as he came up to her with his hand extended out for her to put the phone in his hand. Handing it over and not saying another word, she went off about her business, of course she was really going to go find a nearby hiding spot so that she could listen in on her brother's conversation.

"Hello?" Oliver asked and wondered who this Amseo person was as the closest person he knew of with a name like it was Maseo and he didn't think it'd be him.

" _Oliver! Good to hear from you my friend._ " Came the surprising voice of one Maseo Yamashiro and causing Oliver to look up at the roof with a shake of his head at his sister's antics.

"Wow, I'll say! I honestly wasn't expecting to hear from you anytime soon after we split up in Hong Kong." Oliver told his friend with surprise in his voice, but he was happy to hear from the man.

Thea, from her hiding spot was honestly surprised by that.  _They know each other from Hong Kong!? This guy better not be trying to get my brother back over there for that stupid Waller lady!_ She worriedly thought as she was going to do what she could to keep Ollie from leaving her again.

" _Yes, I too hadn't expected to be calling you anytime soon either. But circumstances have brung me and my family to Starling City._ " The man informed his friend tiredly, making Oliver a bit worried and concerned for the Yamashiros.

"Circumstances? Nothing bad I hope." But Oliver had a fairly good idea it was bad or his friend likely wouldn't be calling him.

A sigh could be heard on the other end that clued the archer into the fact it was of the bad while Thea as well wondered about these circumstances. " _We are still un-able to return to Japan due to the problems that initially had us leave in the first place. Then there is Waller and her apparent un-ending desire to capture us, it doesn't help that we've had Triad following us as well but we were able to shake them off our trail before coming here. I know it is a lot to ask due to the trouble it could bring you, but I was hoping you would allow my family and I to come stay in your home until we are able to fully plan out our next move._ " For Oliver, there was no question about it as he had no intention of denying his friends in their time of need. He likely could get Shrieve involved and hopefully the man would be able to help the Yamashiros out with their situations regarding Waller, Japan, and the Triad. He had a feeling China White was behind that particular problem as well. He honestly couldn't wait to get back to Triad hunting when he was fully healed up.

"Of course you and your family can come and stay awhile, its no problem at all. Any issues happen and we'll deal as best as we can." Sure he knew his mom wasn't gonna be happy about it, but hey, these are his friends after all.

Thea knew their mom wasn't going to be happy that Ollie was inviting people neither of them knew to come stay awhile since this guy was connected with Hong Kong and all. The girl honestly looked forward to seeing how that whole conversation played out. Maseo was relieved by the answer he was given from his friend as he and his family were in serious need of some good luck. " _Thank you my friend, I will do whatever I can to re-pay you._ " The man told Oliver in a serious tone of voice.

"Hey, you don't have to pay me back at all. Its what friends are for, yeah you guys were forced to put up with me but we all managed to make the best of it." Oliver said with a smile on his face.

"Now… are you able to come here or do you need a ride to get here?"

" _If you could provide transport from the docks to your home, that would be appreciated, as we currently have no means to make it there ourselves._ " Maseo informed him, and not liking that he had to mention that fact.

Oliver nodded even though the other man couldn't see it. "I'll be there as soon as I can then."

 _Oh Ollie, the Diggles aren't even around right now and mom's sooo not gonna be happy you went out on your own!_  Thea thought to herself while biting her lower lip, sure she still wasn't too happy with him over Shane, but him being out on his own even with a driver just didn't seem like a good idea with that bad shoulder of his and any numerous other things that could happen thanks to his problems. Problems that admittedly she wasn't fully aware of the full extent of and likely had caused more issues for her brother on.

As personally she still thought that things were just being blown out of proportion thanks to the fact that their mother hadn't fully explained things to her despite her asking about it and just being told to go easy on her brother. The way Thea figured it, once some cute girl in a short skirt came across his path, her big brother would be pretty much back to his old self in no time. Even if his old self was something of a jerk towards women, but the problem was the fact he rarely left the house these days. So that cute girl in a short skirt scenario was a bit harder to get to happen.

" _Thank you again my friend, for it truly means a lot._ " Maseo said before hanging up, leaving Oliver to do the same.

He then went on a quick dash to go and get ready, and it wasn't long before he found the driver as he could usually be found in the garage doing maintenance from time to time. His know how in that area helped save time on money and in searching out mechanics. After explaining the situation to the driver, the two were off to the docks, leaving Thea on her own to a certain extent with Raisa somewhere in the house. And the young girl fervently hoped her mom wouldn't come home anytime soon as she really didn't want to explain where Olie was. Same with having to explain it to Raisa for that matter as well.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

It'd taken Oliver and the driver around twenty minutes to make it to the docks due to traffic and the like, which had left the archer feeling a bit annoyed since he was in a hurry to get to his friends. But finally, at last, they had made it there and currently Oliver was standing by the car looking around at first before walking about to find them. And just as he was starting to do so, a woman's voice calling out his name drew his attention. Seeing who it was made him smile as it was none other then Tatsu Yamashiro, who was something of a bad ass herself as he'd seen first hand. "Tatsu!" He called out happily and started walking towards her, Maseo, and their son Akio.

One of the first things he noticed was the fact that they looked a bit haggard and thin, something he realized would have been a development for them since they were continually on the run since Hong Kong. Hopefully staying at his place would help with that problem. Their clothing had obviously seen better days too and he could only imagine what the likely causes were if they had little to no money when making their way here. Tatsu surprised him with a hug, and it was one he happily returned. He then proceeded to give Akio a high five followed by a handshake with Maseo, and all with a smile on his face at seeing his friends again for the first time in awhile.

"Its good to see you guys again even if the circumstances suck." He told them happily and honestly and getting smiles and nods of agreement.

"One's circumstances can always improve, the fact you are willing to allow us time to stay in your home is a sign of that." Tatsu told him and he nodded an agreement to that.

Before more could be said however, Akio broke in with a comment by how much Oliver looked like a bum, his joke brought out much needed laughter for his parents and even a laugh from Oliver as he knew the kid wasn't meaning anything bad by it. He figured his sister and Akio would get along pretty well despite their age differences and looked forward to seeing how right he was. "Thanks kid, I appreciate the compliment." He told him with a smile on his face while ruffling the young boy's hair who rolled his eyes at him.

He then told the trio to follow him to the limo, which gained him a few reactions. "Whoa! You have a limo!?" Akio asked in excitement while his parents looked on with surprise on their faces as they walked.

"Yep, I sure do. You see my family is pretty rich and are well known because of it." Now Maseo had known at least a little bit about his friend's home life, but he didn't know it was to that extent. Pity they hadn't been able to capitalize on it due to Waller's interference as it would have been a true help in getting out from under her thumb in no time. But then again, it would have presented a danger to Oliver's family as well in return.

"I'm sure your current appearance must be somewhat off putting to others then." Tatsu said as they climbed inside the limo, earning a chuckle from Oliver in the process.

"Oh there's been a lot of comments on it." He told her as they got settled and were soon on their way while Oliver also made a call to General Shrieve about a little extra help he might be able to provide. With the promise of doing whatever the man might need in return. Not realizing that someone else had been in the area. A certain Agent 'Bob' of Argus for that matter.

Pulling out his phone and dialing a number, the humorless lacking man put it to his ear and waited for the other end to pick up. Nicely enough for him, he didn't have too long of a wait. "Yeah, its me. The Yamashiros have made contact with Queen." The man informed the other side and awaited further others.

**Another Twenty Minutes Later**

The ride back to the mansion had been a pleasant one for not only Oliver, but for the Yamashiros as well since the family felt like they were able to relax for the first time in a long while. When they made their arrival, a small party was waiting for them in the form of Moira, Thea, and the Diggle brothers. Moira in particular looked rather unhappy along with having her arms crossed. Oliver was the first to get out, not even bothering to wait on the driver to open the door. But when he saw the look on his mother's face as he got out, he couldn't help but wince at the expression on her face. The Diggles at least didn't seem terribly annoyed by it so that was something while Thea just looked a bit nervous. "And just WHAT were you thinking going off on your own young man?" Moira asked, highly upset with her son for going off with out so much as a warning.

He looked at her for a moment before leaning towards the open door and gestured for the Yamashiros to get out and then raising back up to give his mother his full attention. "Well… I was thinking that I needed to go see a few friends who were in need of some help." He told her with a shrug like what he had done wasn't necessarily a big deal to get bothered about.

The glare he got told him all he needed to know that she wasn't impressed by his answer or the shrug he gave her. Any reply she might have made to that was cut off when Akio was the first to get out and looked around at what he saw with an expression of awe on his face that gained a smile from Oliver once he saw it. The boys parents were soon out as well and looking a bit impressed themselves at the home their young friend lived in. Tatsu wondered how he had even managed to survive for as long as he had when he was likely pampered quite a bit before being lost at sea and eventually dumped on her and her family's laps. She knew it wasn't a very favorable thought towards her friend, but she couldn't help but think it. Taking notice of whom looked to be Oliver's mother and the rather unhappy expression on her face, Tatsu quickly surmised that the woman wasn't happy with her son. The swordswoman figured that perhaps he had left without saying anything, something she knew she herself wouldn't be too happy about if Akio had done the same thing.

"Greetings Mrs. Queen, I am Tatsu Yamashiro." She said politely with a bow to the woman who was a bit surprised by the whole thing.

Maseo and Akio quickly followed suit after the man introduced himself and Akio to the small group. Oliver could tell his mom was thrown off by the whole thing and figured that she would save any blow ups for later in private. Which suited him just fine as there was no need to do that in front of company after all. "I've offered them a place in our home to stay until things are more manageable for them." Oliver informed his mother who looked at him in surprise over that and a slight bit of annoyance for not having talked this out with her first.

The older woman wondered however on the manageable bit considering she was aware of their connection to her son in relation to Hong Kong. She figured that time would provide answers and asking questions now wouldn't be very polite of her at this point in time. Moira could also see that the family was in need of some food and suitable clothing and found herself hoping that whatever problem they were dealing with would soon resolve itself as being forced to deal with such conditions was truly horrible. Putting on a smile for them to hide her annoyance with Oliver, she began to speak to them. "While this is unexpected, I am delighted to have you in our home. I am Moira Queen, mother to this hairy ruffian who refuses to shave." She gave a nudge of her head in Oliver's direction as she made her joke, earning a little bit of laughter from the family.

Thea then stepped up. "And I'm Thea, the younger sister of the hairy ruffian." She told them with a smile on her face that was more real then her mother's.

She bent a little low to Akio and started to speak in a stage whisper. "My mom thinks she hides the good cookies really well, but I know just where to find them. Interested?" Earning a shake of the head that was pretty much fond exasperation from her mom.

Akio looked at his parents with excitement on his face and the two looked at one another and gave him the okay with a nod of their heads. "Awesome!" he cried out and soon the two youngsters were off to find the cookies.

The Diggles were simply amused by the whole thing and John in particular could understand why Oliver hadn't decided to wait around for one or both of them to show up. He and his brother would say something anyway but it would likely be along the lines of a helpful tip of some kind at the least. Like him asking them to meet him where he was needing to be for example. Moira clapped her hands suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. "Well! Why don't we all go inside, I'm sure the two of you would love an opportunity to freshen up a bit. Something Raisa I'm sure would be happy to assist with." She said with a smile on her face while giving Oliver a pointed look that pretty much told him she wanted to have a little chat with him very, very soon. That, to her annoyance got an eyeroll but she was at least satisfied he got the message.

She started to walk back into the mansion, and soon the others followed after with some intending to take some time to have much needed relaxment for the first time in months.

**Three Days Later with a Hell Beast at the Gates…**

It'd be three days later when the nice peaceful nature of the Queen mansion would be disrupted thanks to the arrival of one Amanda Waller who'd been keeping an eye on the place. She felt that now was the time for a much needed chat with the Yamashiros and didn't give any kind of a damn about Moira Queen's restraining order. However, as soon as she was about to ring the doorbell, a clearing of the throat stopped her, causing her to turn around and sigh in annoyance at the sight of one General Matthew Shrieve. Head of a certain specialized unit since the forties and ally of Oliver Queen. "General, what a… Pleasant surprise to see you here." She told the man with false politeness in her voice.

He smirked at her as he just knew she wasn't happy at all with his being there, not that he gave a crap. It was high time someone knocked the woman down a peg or two and he had years of experience doing such a thing. The Yamashiros deserved to be left alone and he was going to damn well ensure it. "Isn't it? I thought I'd come by and check on a few things." He smoothly told her and she was pretty sure this wasn't some run of the mill thing the man decided to do.

"Oh, let me get that for you." Shrieve said with a smile and rang the doorbell, earning an amused smile from another man who was with him. A man who didn't even look like he was in the milltary for that matter.

Waller however knew EXACTLY who he was and realized she was going to have to play ball for the most part, but there was no way she was going to fully allow the General's friend to keep her compliant however. There is a reason there's a certain element in her finger nail polish after all… Whether or not the man knew that didn't particularly concern her as he was more than welcome to try his luck against her. A woman soon came to the door that Waller knew to be the primary house maid for the Queens known as Raisa. "Oh! Why hello there!" The Russian said and had reason to be surprised since those of the military didn't visit all that often. The woman on the other hand she wasn't sure of but figured she might be military too.

Shrieve gave the woman a warm smile to put her more at ease. "Hello there ma'am, I am General Matthew Shrieve and I've come here on account of a personal request from Oliver Queen. Is he in?" His question made the woman feel even more surprised over the fact that a military man was interested in young Oliver and she wondered just how the two knew one another.

"Why yes sir he is home right now as he usually often is these days." She said with a smile and then looked towards Waller.

"And you are Miss?" Raisa enquired curiously.

The woman gave her a smirk that instantly made the Russian woman dislike her a bit as the smirk was full of arrogance and that was just something she never cared for from people. "I am Amanda Waller, head of Argus. I've also come to speak with Mr. Queen, of course not as a favor however." Now this was a person Raisa had heard of and had no desire to allow this she beast of a horrible human being anywhere near her favorite Queen again.

Raisa's reaction gained another smirk from Waller who correctly assumed that the maid had heard of her, likely from Queen himself at some point during his return to them. "You have a restraining order against you Miss Waller, you know this correct?"

"Oh I'm quite aware of that, rather ingenious of Mrs. Queen I must admit. But my reasons for being here trump that silly little order for the time being due to matters of National Security." Waller replied easily while ignoring the stare she was getting from Shrieve. Naturally her claim about it being a matter of National Security was a lie, but she'd do what she had too in order to get the Yamashiros back under her thumb where they belonged until she was done with them.

 _This woman has simply gone unchecked for far too long. Time someone reined her in._  The General thought to himself with a frown and he knew that was going to be an uphill battle where she was concerned however.

Raisa's latest thoughts of the woman before her were definitely unkind but in the end she felt she had no choice but to allow the vile creature inside due to her claim. "Follow me please." She finally said to both of them and began the walk to where Oliver could be found.

Which wasn't a short trip considering when the young wasn't asleep, he could be found in the front room being a couch potato half the time. "Mister Oliver, you have guests!" The woman would have preferred him being alone in the room but such was not to be as the Yamashiros and Miss Thea were with him as well.

Oliver looked over at her and was about to ask who when Shrieve, followed by Amanda Waller came into the room. Making his question no longer needed to be asked, the sight of Waller in his own home however was something he had NEVER wanted to see happen. And yet, here she was and her very presence was essentially soiling his home. The Yamashiros were alarmed by the sight of the woman as well and Thea was getting a little worried by how the four were acting. "What? Why's everybody acting like bad news just arrived? Its only someone from the military with some lady in a skirt." She asked confusedly with traces of worry in her voice.

The sneer she got from the woman made not for a happy camper in Thea who responded in kind, along with sticking her tongue out at the woman. "Hmmph, how… Cute." Was all the older woman chose to say in the end. Thea smirked at her anyway however.

"I certainly try." She retorted smugly, unaware that she was making her big brother a bit nervous and seriously wishing she would shut up.

Waller arched an eyebrow at the girl who was nonplussed by the sight. "I'm sure you do so well at in addition to your drug habits." She said and causing the young girl's jaw to drop and Oliver's anger to rise a bit.

"How… How did you know that!?" Thea spluttered in shock and only getting another smirk in return.

"Its what I do." Was the smug filled response.

"Enough!" Oliver gritted out in a very unhappy voice, drawing in everyone's attention and getting an agreement from the General as well in the process.

"Well that was quite rude of you to interrupt in such a manner Mr. Queen." Oliver scoffed at that as he could hardly care less if he had been rude towards her.

"Somehow, I'm sure you'll be just fine." Came his sarcastic response.

Before more could be said however, especially on Shrieve's part, Maseo stood up to his full height with a determined look about him. "We refuse to go anywhere with you Agent Waller." For Thea, that name sounded familiar but she couldn't place why and she wondered why Maseo was being so adamant about not going anywhere with her. Now yeah, the woman was a bit unsettling so there was that at least.

The head of Argus turned to look at Maseo with an air of indfference to her, not even caring that the man had spoken up for she wasn't about to give him or his family a choice. "Considering you went AWOL on me in Hong Kong, you have little choice in the matter Mr. Yamashiro." She informed him in a cool tone.

Tatsu was wishing she had her sword close by as she would just love to stab the vile woman with it. She held her son protectively and had a feeling he was going to be having nightmares tonight thanks to this woman. "And if you weren't so damned heavy handed Waller, they wouldn't have ran." Reprimanded Shrieve, drawing a scowl from the no nonsense woman.

"Well that is all she knows after all, God knows she tried that crap with me and the others and it blew up in her face. Maybe she should try less volatile means, like a hug maybe?" Shrieve's up til now silent companion suggested while giving Waller a smirk as that had been a massive blow to the woman's ego and plans. Which had driven her from then on to not suffer such a set back ever again.

Oliver had to snort at the thought of Amanda Waller giving anyone a hug. "Something tells me she would have to have a whole plan thought out for that." The archer put in, earning him a laugh from the man.

"Alright alright everyone, let's get down to business." Shrieve cut in as he didn't want to delay things further and potentially cause a blow out in a civilian area. Waller was happy about that but the General's next remark made that bit of happy wither and die a quick death.

"Besides, we can discuss hug strategies after we get things settled." The good General said with a smirk, earning laughs from the others.

Clearing his throat and giving a hard glare to Argus' head to show her he was now all about business. "The Yamashiros made a retreat in fear of their lives and its highly understandable since you don't exactly go easy on anyone. But your little manhunt for them ends here today and you nor any other Argus agent are to go near them ever again or I will see to it that Argus is no more. Is that understood?" And considering his long career in the military, he was certainly capable of pulling it off too.

He got a glare that could kill in return for his interference. "While your long standing service in the military would be of help to you General, I've made assurances that such an attempt will NOT be easy." Shrieve didn't need an explanation to know what she meant by that. The woman didn't get to where she is now by playing nicely with others. Blackmail's a Hell of a thing to have on your side.

Thea finally figured out why this woman's name sounded familiar to her as she had remembered over hearing her mom talking about it with Walter awhile back. "You're the bitch who kept my brother in Hong Kong!" She stated with a pointed finger and a fierce glare at the woman.

Amanda gave a slight bow of the head to the young girl. "Well well, I see all the drugs haven't dulled your thought processes too far." She responded bitingly, making Thea a bit incensed over the insult concerning her intelligence.

Shrieve could tell the young girl was about to respond but cut her off before she could with a simple command that she surprisingly followed much to Oliver's shock. He then gave his attention to Waller. "And here I thought you were above such things." His words implying something Waller clearly didn't much like at all.

Cleaering his throat again to get back on track with the situation at hand. "While you and Argus may be independent to a point, at the end of the day you are still answerable to the Military and as the appointed Military Overseer of your branch, what I say goes and whether you like it or not, you WILL obey a direct order. For if you don't Miss Waller, you will be removed and placed in Prison. Is that understood?" His tone gave no room for argument and Waller, realizing she had little choice, was forced to comply.

Giving him a frosty glare to show just how unsatisfied she was, she then looked around the room and gave each person a glare and getting further displeased when Oliver Queen simply stared her down. Breaking eye contact as she had little desire to play games with the fool, she then turned her attention to the interfering General. "Fine then General, I have no choice in this matter and I will consider my hands washed of the whole thing entirely." As honestly the whole damn thing was more of a headache then it was worth. And while she may not be able to do anything about it, their problem in Japan or even the Triad would likely take care of the little family for her. Therefore, ultimately giving her a victory in the end.

Tatsu sighed in relief while Maseo didn't relax his guard at all. Thea was inwardly rejoicing at seeing the bitch get put in her place. Too bad her mom wasn't here, then the woman would REALLY get put in her place! "Just what do you think you are doing in MY home!?" Well, speak of the devil and she shall appear! Oh yeah, Thea was a happy camper for sure now!

Oliver groaned as this could get a bit more worse with the arrival of his mom. Waller gave the new arrival her attention and noted with satisfication that the woman was highly unhappy having her in the mansion. "Mrs. Queen, how… Delightful it is to see you again. But not to worry, I was just leaving."

She started walking and as she got to the side of Moira Queen, she turned back to Oliver with a small smirk on her face. "Well I may not have been able to reclaim the Yamashiros Mr. Queen, but what about you? Your interrogation tactics would be most… Useful." The stir up her words would cause with that would be at least one small victory for her in all this.

Both Moira and Thea wondered just what the ghastly woman meant by that, but Thea certainly had no intentions of asking this time around as she'd like to think she learned her lesson. The archer gave a glare at the woman before saying anything. "If I get to use them against you, I'm all for it. Otherwise, no thanks." God how he wished he could put an arrow into her cold black heart!

"A pity then." Waller remarked and walked onward towards the front doors.

Shrieve gave a nod to his companion who understood what it meant and quickly followed after the Argus head to ensure she didn't try anything as she got out of the place. The companion, known to a select few as Warren Griffith also long wished to tear out the woman's throat and watch as she bled to death. Warren had never been able to forgive the horrible woman for her part in Myrra Rhodes' comatose state after having agreed to do a mission for Argus that ultimately didn't go so well in Myrra's favor. If it hadn't of been for Franklin as he liked to be called, Myrra would have been truly lost to them.

Following her all the way out to her car and stopping a short distance to see her leave empty handed, he was surprised when the vile she beast turned to him. "Just like a dog as always Mr. Griffith." She crassly commented.

Griffith sneered at her and let loose a vibe that was pretty much full of killing intent that also carried an air of primalness to it. "I suggest you keep such comments to yourself before that pretty little throat gets ripped out."

"Hmm… I suppose you may have a point." And with that, she was gone, much to happiness of Griffith.

**Back Inside**

Things had been quiet for a short time until Moira had voiced one particular question about why that vile woman had been in her home when there was a restraining order against her. Shrieve had taken the initiative to explain her presence, along with his own in the process. The explanation was enough for her, but she was still pretty much unhappy with having had that woman in her home. Moira was pleased however that the Yamashiros would no longer have to be worried about that woman trying something. The General also assured the family that a solution to their problem in Japan was being worked on as quickly as possible. Maseo was incredibly thankful to not only Shrieve, but to Oliver as well for having gotten the man involved. "I do not know how I will do it, but I will repay you for your part in this General Shrieve." He said seriously and Tatsu knew there was no way she could dissuade her husband from that but she would still yell at him later in private for it. She hoped it wouldn't cost him his life in the end.

Oliver walked up to the General with a smile on his face and shook hands with the man. "That's two I owe you." He remarked, earning a chuckle from the older man.

"That you do kid, that you do. We'll talk about that after that shoulder of yours is all healed up." Moira didn't exactly like what that meant but chose to keep quiet for the time being. But silently promised to raise Hell if the army man tried to recruit her boy into the army!

Oliver then escorted the General back to his vehicle where Warren was waiting as well as he hadn't felt like going back inside. The others had followed along as well to see the man off. "Thanks a bunch mister!" Akio called out happily.

"My pleasure son!" And with that, the General and his companion were off.

The archer watched the two leave until he could no longer see them, he then turned back to the small crowd behind him. "So… Who wants to celebrate?" His question was met with a chorus of cheers.

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**Author's Notes: I had very nearly turned this into a potential two parter but thought in the end to make it just one chapter. The Chinese dialogue is merely Oliver saying its an honor to have the businessmen in his home and the lead man responding favorably in kind. Hopefully I handled things in this chapter pretty well and no doubt Waller is definitely not happy! Warren and Myrra, even Franklin despite the fact its not his actual name (as I wanted to be witty or some such) are actually DC characters. And all three relate to Shrieve in a certain way. R and R!**


	41. A Helping Hand

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Warning, torture will be seen in this.**

**"Something done jumped up and bit me in the buttocks!" - Forrest Gump**

* * *

**July 20th, 2010, Queen Mansion, Evening**

A short amount of time had passed since Amanda Waller's little visit to the Queen Mansion and elation was still riding high for the Yamashiros. The family were still staying there until they had enough money to get their own place until the situation in Japan was resolved. Maseo had even gotten a job thanks to the Diggle brothers working as a bodyguard. Oliver had made a remark about how the suit the man tended to wear in Hong Kong while on assignments for Waller had obviously been leading up to this moment. He got an eye roll in return for it in return from Tatsu who'd been in the living room at the time he said it. Tatsu herself had gotten a job as well after she had convinced Ted Grant that his students could benefit from learning the art of the sword as it was a great lesson in patience. So far the turn out for that had proven to be pretty great and Grant himself had to admit that their patience levels was improving when he sparred with them now since a few of his students could be quite hot headed.

For Akio, the kid was relishing the opportunity to be around other kids his age for once without a lot of worries. Him and the Diggle's son A.J. had hit it off rather well after they had met and the young boy had quickly been brought into the circle of friends A.J. had. Tatsu knew however it was going to be bitter sweet when the time came to return home to Japan unless someone talked them out of it. But she didn't dwell on that thought for long however as it tended to depress her a little considering how happy they were right now. Tommy's encounter with Maseo had proven to be very awkward considering the older man's role in the kidnapping back in Hong Kong. At first Maseo had tried to play it off but Tommy wouldn't leave it alone until Oliver had added his own two cents to the whole thing. And while Tommy was a bit standoffish around the man, his interactions with Akio were pretty amusing to see since the kid tended to hassle him worse then he ever did Oliver back in Hong Kong.

"Think of it this way, I'm doing my duty as a kid to help you in knowing what to expect from your own kids." Was the surprisingly insightful comment one afternoon from Akio that had sent Tommy into a spluttering mess while everyone else laughed at him. A text to Laurel from Thea had the Lance girl laughing her butt off afterwards, followed by more of it and some good natured teasing when the two got together later that night.

Oliver had felt a pang in his chest over the whole thing as it had reminded him of Sandra and the loss of the baby, a baby that came with a responsibility he had been ill equipped to handle at the time. He sometimes wondered if he should go try and find her in Central and see how she was doing since then, but didn't think it would be a good idea to bring up a bad memory. Not to mention the fact he had enough going on his life at the moment without opening that can of worms.

Currently, the archer and his best pal were lounging about in the living room for lack of anything better to do as everyone else was either working or hanging out in the case of Thea and Akio respectively. Who for all the archer knew were actually plotting ways to prank him and it was enough to make him shudder a bit. Tommy was enlightening Oliver to the newer alcohol drinks that had come out in recent times and the archer was only partially listening to what his friend was saying as he stared at whatever was on the tv screen since alcohol wasn't much of an appeal towards the returned cast away. But he wasn't about to deny his friend a chance to talk about one of the things he enjoys talking about. Oliver knew that if his friend ever put his mind to it, the Merlyn Scion would likely do very well as a club owner. Even if Merlyn Senior would have a fit over the whole thing, but that was just a plus as far as he was concerned since he never quite liked the older man that much. Ringing could be suddenly heard from Tommy's phone, ending his spiel about the newer drinks out there that his best buddy was unfortunately missing out on.

Pulling it out of his pocket and seeing who it was, he smiled, answered it, and put it up to his ear. "Hey Laurel, to whom do I owe my thanks to for your lovely self calling me?" He flirted, causing Oliver to roll his eyes and shake his head at the cornyness of it all.

"And I thought I could be cheesy with lines." Oliver muttered and got a grin in return from his best friend.

"Yeah, but I am most definitely cheesier." Tommy joked back.

" _I could tell you who to thank, but then again, that would be too easy._ " The voice of Laurel said from the other line in a teasing voice that hinted at some seriousness. She let the cheesy comment slide for the time being due to more pressing issues with a client.

A client who was currently in the hospital sadly enough after being brave enough to come forward with some information about some crook who'd been hassling people in her neighborhood. Thankfully, if one could see it that way, the crook and his goons hadn't gone beyond a beating but Laurel was wishing like crazy that she could beat the crap out of them for touching another woman like that. Her dad had already been by to take a statement from her due to her involvement in the situation since the client was unable to at the moment once she realized it was time to get the police involved. Which undoubtedly meant that her dad was going to get involved too since she was involved.

"Easy's good though!" Responded Tommy, earning a light laugh from Laurel in the process.

" _Good it might be, but definitely not as rewarding in the end._ " She teasingly informed him.

Good God how he loved talking with this woman! But he could hear the seriousness mixed in with her teasing and knew she wasn't calling just to talk or whatever. "Now as much as I love hearing your voice, something tells me you aren't calling me just because you can." The Merlyn Scion said, giving her an opening and drawing in Oliver's interest.

" _Now now Tommy, flattery will get you nowhere with me. But I am calling for a reason and I know you aren't going to like it._ " Hearing those words made the young black haired man instantly realize that something must have come up and he definitely for sure didn't like it.

"I'm sure that's not true, given enough time I'm sure my flattery will get everywhere with you. And I'm not gonna like it huh? That doesn't exactly sound good."

Deciding that she'd re-visit the whole flattery thing at a less serious time, she got down to business with Tommy. " _Yeah, I'm sorry but I'm not going to be able to make it to dinner tonight. A client's been hospitalized._ " She informed him sadly and Tommy sucked in a breath at that as Laurel had mentioned a young girl recently to him, drawing Oliver's attention once more.

"Aww jeez, I'm sorry to hear that. Is she gonna be alright?" He asked concernedly and shattering that whole notion of him being a mostly uncaring playboy. But considering it was Laurel and Ollie, he didn't really care all that much since they knew him best.

" _The doctors seem to think so, but its unlikely she'll be out of here by tomorrow._ " Tommy considered that and came up with an idea as he knew Laurel had to be hungry by this point as when she got focused on a case she tended to forget about eating.

"Well if you want I can bring you something to eat?" His question caused Laurel to smile in apprecation as she realized she was feeling rather hungry.

" _If you don't mind, and again I am so sorry about tonight._ " She told him seriously.

Tommy shrugged despite the fact she couldn't see it. "Hey I don't mind at all, and you can always make it up to me later as I get that this is way more important." And he did get it too despite some of his more questionable acts of immaturity over certain things at times.

" _Thanks a lot Tommy, I really appreciate it._ " She said gratefully before hanging up.

Hanging up from his end and not even really bothered about the lack of a bye from her, he looked at Oliver for a moment. "So, wanna go with?"

The archer considered it for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders as he pretty much had nothing better to do. He'd make a call to either Maseo or one of the Diggles later to bring him home so that his mother wouldn't be entirely unhappy about his leaving without a bodyguard again. "Yeah why not." He finally responded and left to go put on some socks and shoes and made sure to grab his house key as well as a just in case.

The two were soon out the door with Tommy singing somewhat horribly. "And we're off to see the wonderful Lawyer of the Glades!" Was his horribly but cheerful attempt at singing and at the same ruining a certain Wizard of Oz song.

**40 Minutes Later at Starling General**

It'd taken them around forty minutes to get there after they had stopped by a Chinese place to pick up some food for Laurel and along the way Tommy had sent her a text to make sure he was going towards the right hospital or clinic. Laurel had a great beaming smile aimed in Tommy's direction when she saw that he had gotten her some Chinese food from a place she loved to go too once they found her near one of the hospital rooms. Though she was wondering a little why Ollie was with him. When asked, she learned he hadn't really had anything else to do and thought he'd come with. The lawyer shrugged her shoulders at that and dug into her food once they got to the cafeteria, not really caring one way or the other about why he was there.

Oliver just stood awkwardly around as his two friends sat at a table, the whole place reminding him a lot of his time at the Ward and it wasn't something he really liked.  _Note to self… Avoid places like this as much as possible unless otherwise._  He thought to himself with resolve.

"So what exactly is going on?" Oliver enquired as he figured he might as well see what was up until he and Tommy left.

Laurel looked at him in surprise and swallowed her bite before answering him. "My client, Anna Golden was attacked earlier by a group who'd been harrassing the locals in her area of the Glades. She'd been hesitant to come forward with information on them and what you see is their displeasure of her doing that." The lawyer said distastefully and Oliver agreed whole heartedly on how distasteful it was.

He also wondered if it'd be a good idea to get involved with this, heck it'd be practically like old times in Hong Kong if he could get Maseo in on this as well. "With you on the case and your dad likely to be involved, those guys won't know what hit 'em." He said seriously with a smile on his face.

Laurel wasn't quite sure how to take that from him of all people, but part of her did appreciate the words from him. "Thank you Ollie." She said uncertainly and he couldn't blame her for it.

"Anytime, and if you'll excuse me… I need to make a call." And with that, politely excused himself before anymore could be said by either of his friends. If Laurel could be called that anyway at this point in time.

Curious, Laurel turned her attention to Tommy and seeing the look on her face, he shrugged his shoulders at her. "Probably just calling in to let his watchers know where he's at." Something even he felt was unnecessary, but you didn't argue with Moira Queen when it came to the protection of her babies!

She nodded at that before getting back to the serious business of filling up her belly.

**Meanwhile, With Oliver**

As he walked away from the table and waited on Maseo to answer his phone, he made his way out of the cafeteria and back to where he and Tommy originally found Laurel. As he figured the room she was near was where the Golden girl was located. Maseo finally picked up on the 6th ring and the archer immediately started talking to him.

" _You want to look into a beating and see what can be done about it?_ " Maseo asked him a bit dubiously once his friend stopped talking as the younger man had never quite liked being out in the field. Then again cause of it being Waller, it was likely really only cause of her that he didn't like doing it.

Oliver nodded and could understand the doubt from his friend considering his distate of field work back in Hong Kong. But honestly, if it hadn't of been for Waller and her threats, he thought he would have enjoyed it a bit more. "Yeah, I do. I figure if we get ourselves involved, we could stop a minor threat before it gets anymore serious." He pointed out and Maseo had to agree with that logic.

It took the older man a few minutes to think about it and finally decided it wouldn't hurt to help, even if it got him into hot water with his wife afterwards. " _Very well, I shall come for you soon in the parking lot._ " His words made Oliver grin happily as now he could actually do something useful for once instead of just going back home once him and Tommy were done here.

"Thanks for agreeing, and see ya soon." And then hung up once he got a reply from the older man.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching and satisfied that none weren't, he quietly slipped inside and couldn't help but wince when he saw the state of Anna Golden. Anger also surged through him as even at his worst he would have NEVER done something like this. Real men don't hit women after all. Unless they are trying to kill you, then an exception is likely in order in that instance. Coming over to the end of her bed and grabbing the chart to take a look at what information was there, he quickly read up on it and realized a little too late he was going to have to look elsewhere for information on where she lived. As knowing that was vital to getting close to the wastes of space who put her in here. Putting the chart back where he found it, he slipped quietly back out and made his way back to the cafeteria to let his two friends know that Maseo was coming to get him.

Hearing their replies, he took off towards the parking lot while trying to access information on his cell phone. Something he was finding pretty annoying due to the quick advances the things had made in the short amount of time he'd been gone. Annoyed, he put it in back in his pocket and waited for Maseo to show up. And thankfully he didn't have too long of a wait either. Hoping inside the car as soon as he was able too, he turned towards Maseo and let the man know that he would have to be the one to use technology since he was still a bit behind even if he had been back awhile now. The older man just looked at him incredulously while Oliver had the grace to look embarrassed about it. "How have you managed to stay out of touch like that!?" The man asked incredulously.

"I've…. Had other things on my mind and its never really felt like a priority." Oliver muttered and Maseo had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

"Very well, but once we return to the mansion, lessons in technology will be in order." The Queen Scion could only nod at that as he knew he couldn't really argue against that. Plus, he really didn't want to see if the man would get his wife after him for it with her sword if he did go against it! Then again, he was likely over thinking things and should quit with the crazy scenarios.

After a little bit of research, the two men were off to the area of the Glades Anna Golden lived in. Information on the punks would be found there even though both of them suspected that it would be a bit difficult to get. Along the way, Maseo also made a call to Moira to let her know that Oliver was with him so that she wouldn't have to worry too much about him. Oliver just wished she wouldn't worry so much like she does as he really didn't need people watching after him anytime he went somewhere! Its not like he'd get kidnapped or something after all. The two eventually stopped at a small diner called Sally's that was in the neighborhood Anna lived in and figured it would be a good idea to start there. Getting out and locking the doors so as to hopefully deter any would be thieves, they made their way into the diner and Oliver instantly found himself wondering if anything was safe to try considering how run down it looked.

Living on an island for two years and then for some time in Hong Kong had naturally made the archer a bit more careful about what he ate as being sick would not be a good thing. Especially if it involved a potential life or death situation. Those inside seemed rather comfortable however and he guessed that they were possibly regulars of the place. That or the atmopshere was just really homey. Taking a seat at the booth and grabbing menus just to really see what was available, they didn't have to wait long until a waitress came by to take their order. She wasn't there long however as the two weren't quite ready to order, though the woman was rather suggestive towards Oliver before she left however that left him with little doubt to what she was talking about regarding a special order from her.

At one point in his life, he would have gone for it but that was then and this is now. Maseo eyed him and wondered why the younger man hadn't been more interested in her offer. "I am surprised you did not take her up on that." He commented as he looked around.

Oliver looked at him and just shrugged. "I've got more important things to think about." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders. One of those things being getting back to full health.

Considering what Maseo had heard of and learned of, he could certainly understand why his young friend's mind would be on other things at the moment. Plus it was better to focus on why they were here to begin with rather then on other… Pursuits. The two went back to looking at the menu and Oliver figured it couldn't hurt to try out the special, but the door opening caught his attention, which served to be a good thing cause once the five individuals came in. Everyone in the diner started to look a bit nervous with their being in the place. Maseo was looking at them as well once he saw what was going on. The small group looked exactly like a bunch of trouble makers due to how they were dressed, the fact they weren't speaking all that politely was another factor too that in that evaluation of them. Oliver was happy they weren't from the WheelBound Gang at least as one encounter was more than enough for him thank you very much!

The leader of the bunch strode towards the middle of the diner with a swagger as he looked around him. "Well isn't this a cozy place." Eliciting laughter from his friends in the process.

Laughter Oliver didn't much like hearing as it was just annoying. The leader, who looked like some punk kid who likely dropped out of high school and had a bunch of freckles on his face sat down at the counter and rapped his fingers on the top of it. "Now I'm sure all yins know about what happened with the Golden girl, so keep that in mind if any of yins decides to be a hero." He had sneered the word 'hero' and everyone there just nodded fearfully in the hopes it'd get him and his pals out of there quicker.

Satisfied that his message was received loud and clear, he got off the stool and headed back towards his buddies and then they all left afterwards. A sigh of relief could be heard through out the diner and Oliver found himself wanting to do something about the whole thing. Maseo surprised himself when he realized that he wouldn't mind putting those fear mongers in a hospital bed. The two looked at one another for a moment and after a silent exchange, they got up and headed quickly out the door to follow the small group to where they hang out at. However, Oliver quickly stuck his head back into the diner and looked at the waitress from before. "Uhh yeah, sorry for not trying anything. I'll have to try and come back soon." And was gone before anyone could say anything.

Hopping in the passenger seat quickly, the two drove off after the group of punks wihle making sure they weren't being obvious about it. Before long, they were brought to a rather crappy looking building that had others similarly dressed as their prey. Both men thinking that this was the place they were primarily located, the fact they seemed to have guards of a sort at the door obviously meant they were somewhat organized. But how organized remained to be seen. Backing away from the area so as not to be seen and cause an issue, they debated on what they should do next. Oliver seemed of the opinion that they should grab at least one of them for an interrogation when he was alone, he got a wary look from Maseo over that considering he was somewhat aware of how he had come by his interrogation skills thanks to Amanda Waller. "Are you not concerned for your mental state?" The man asked concernedly.

Oliver shrugged at him. "Not at the moment I'm not, but afterwards? I'll deal then." After all he didn't really think it would take much to get one of the punks to start talking anyway. These guys weren't high level thugs after all.

It would be at least ten minutes until they got lucky when one of the gang members was seen by himself walking in their direction and seemed to be off in his own little world while rapping rather horribly. Oliver got out quietly and made his way behind the punk while making sure to stay in the shadows and not make a sound as much as possible. Striking quickly, he grabbed the punk in a choke hold and held him long enough to make him pass out. And despite the struggle the guy went through to get free and the slight pain he was starting to feel in his shoulder, it didn't take long before the target passed out. Maseo soon joined him to help carry their target to the car and once they got him in, they left the area as quietly as they had come in.

After getting a promise from Maseo to not reveal anything, Oliver had the older man take them to the old Foundry so that they could do the interrogation there. Despite the look of the place, the older man was impressed with his younger friend's thinking in using an asset of his father's to conduct operations such as an interrogation in. And he would most certainly not tell anyone, which included his wife unless it was absolutely necessary. The set up Oliver has in the basement was a bit more impressive as well to the older man. Getting some rope, the two tied their visitor to a chair securely so he wouldn't wake up. The archer then went over to his gear and brought out his bow, some arrows, his hood, the voice changer, and face mask before moving over to the work station where he made more arrows. There he grabbed a pair of goggles that had deep red lenses on them that had a tendency to glow at times, he also grabbed a blowtorch he had there as well as he planned to make use of it for this interrogation.

Putting on his gear and rolling his shoulder a bit to hopefully loosen it up somewhat so it wouldn't be an issue for him. For Maseo, the man had to admit even he was a bit intimidated by the sight his friend was looking like as he looked to be the type one would not wish to be alone with in an alley. They also had made use of one light only and it was currently over their guest as well to minimize his seeing anything. The archer gave a nod to his friend and taking his cue, he slapped the punk's face from behind to get him to wake up. "Ugh… I don't wanna get up for school ma…." He muttered groggily as he came too and Maseo stepped back into the darkness.

"Your mother isn't here." Came a deep menacing voice that had the punk look around wildly in a panic. Heh, who knew that could help wake up someone faster?

"What the? Where the Hell am I!?" He asked frantically as he tried to get free but couldn't, much to his immense dislike.

"You betta let me go or da Boneheads will git ya!" If Oliver wasn't too impressed with them before, he definitely wasn't now after learning of the group's name.

Oliver let out a burst of flame from the torch and immediately got the punk's attention and to his satisfaction, got a scream of fear from the guy once he saw him.

For the Bonehead punk, the sight of a guy with red eyes was some scary crap! He wondered how the guy was pulling it off and were he a bit more rational, he would have realized it was likely just some glasses or some such like that. But alas, he wasn't at this point in time. "As you can see, I am not terribly worried about your friends getting me. Now… How about your name?" He was thankful for the mask as it hid his smile at seeing the confused look on the kid's face.

"My… My name? Why ya wanna know dat for!?" Came the confused question.

His kidnapper let the blowtorch come to life again, which earned an 'eep!' from the tied up individual as he realized he couldn't even really see a face either! "Because, I find that being on a first name basis is a wonderful way to connect." The guest wasn't entirely sure about that however.

"Yeah? Ladies first." Came the challenge with a sneer attached to it.

His answer wasn't well liked however as his kidnapper put the blowtorch to the side and let it go off, scaring the guy even further and being thankful as a mother that he hadn't set anything on fire! "Alright! Alright! Git dat thing a way man! I'm Chilla!" Both Oliver and Maseo raised their eyebrows up at that as it couldn't possibly be his real name.

"Of course a waste of space such as yourself would be called that."

"Well I'm not tellin' ya my real name man!" Chilla protested and got another burst of flame for his trouble.

"Before we are done boy, you'll have even told me how long it took you to stop wetting the bed." Now Oliver wasn't one to talk like this during an interrogation since he had learned pretty quickly it was best to start with the impalements as it would get them talking, but with this, he figured it was best to scare the life out of the punk before getting to that. Not that he planned to do much anyway as it is since the punk was rather young and even he had his limits.

Chilla whimpered to himself as he was actually pretty close to wetting himself right then and there! "Look man, just let me go a'ight? Far as I know, I ain't done nothin' to ya! So just let me go a'ight!?" He pleaded as he REALLY wanted to get the Hell out of there!

"Just as Anna Golden did nothing that deserved a stay at the hospital!?" Oliver growled out, earning himself another whimper of fear from his guest.

"H-h-hey now! Dat chick wouldn't listen so we had to do what we had to do!" Had he been thinking more clearly, he wouldn't have even said that. Ahh.. The beauty of the fear of God being put into you.

In response to this, Oliver grabbed an arrow and held it up in the air and allowing the heat of the blowtorch to make the arrow head glow from the flame's heat, ensuring it was getting quite hot. Chilla's eyes widened in shock and growing fear and hoped to a God he hadn't really belived in all that much that he wasn't about to use that thing on him! "Did what we had to do hmm? I really don't like that way of thinking, especially against an UNARMED woman!" He growled out and put the flat side of the arrow head on the punk's neck, which got him screaming in pain from it all.

Hell it was enough to make him mess his pants too. Maseo had to admit he was deeply troubled at seeing this since he hadn't been privy to this sort of thing in the past when his friend was forced into doing this sort of thing. Oliver pulled the heated arrow head away from the punk's neck and Chilla was relieved by that even though it was still hurting like crazy. "Still think you and yours did what you had to do regarding Miss Golden?"

Chilla spat at him in return, cause he was a Bonehead damnit and he wasn't about to let some jackass intimidate him even more! Well… Anymore then what he already was anyway… "We, we own dat hood man! We own it and we ain't gonna let some chick take it from us!" Declared Chilla, and earning himself another flaming mess of pain, but this time to his forehead and earning another loud scream of pain.

Oliver decided to let it stay longer then what he had the first time and Maseo was about to step in when their guest started yelling that he was damn wrong about owning the hood and that what happened to the girl shouldn't have happened. Satisfied with hearing that, Oliver pulled the arrow head away from him and leaned over to look him in the eye. "You will inform your friends that their days of harrassing others in the neighborhood are over. Understood?" He held up the arrow to show just how serious he was being with that request.

"OKAY! I'LL TELL 'EM! JUST KEEP DAT THING AWAY FROM ME MAN!" He yelled out fearfully with a whole lot of tears coming down his face. He was so gonna get the boys to try and find this guy and jump his ass instead of doing what the wacko wanted!

Whether or not Oliver fully believed that was another matter entirely, but he did intend to leave a tip for the Glades precinct to come round up Chilla and his friends, which would ensure that their days hassling people and the like would be effectively over. "You uhh… You gonna let me go now?" Came the hesitantly asked question.

Standing back to his full height, he acted as if he was considering it for a moment, mostly to make the waste of space sweat it out a bit more. "Hmm.. Yes, why not? But once you get the message to your friends, I want you to turn yourself in and confess to all you know." He requested of the punk.

"Oh Thank..." He was cut off from expressing his happiness and maybe a little mouthyness over the request when his kidnapper slugged him hard enough to knock him out.

"And I didn't have to use the bow after all." Oliver mused to himself as he hadn't quite been wanting to agitate his shoulder tonight.

Maseo had to admit he was happy about that as he wasn't sure he would have been able to stand by anymore. "I… I must say that was unnerving to the extreme." The older man commented, earning a chuckle from his friend.

Setting aside the blowtorch and the heated arrow in an out of the way area that wouldn't be likely to catch fire somehow, he then looked towards his friend as he pushed back the hood and pulled down the face mask followed by de-activating the voice changer. "Yeah, I can imagine it would be. Hell I know it was for me that first time." Which had resulted in some horrible consequences for a few lives that night and it had put a drive into him afterwards to get the answers that were needed.

The fact he was talking normally unnerved Maseo a bit but he was at least happy to hear it. "Now what?" He asked curiously.

Oliver looked at him as he pulled off the goggles and set them to the side. "We deliver him to his friends and then make a call to those who protect and serve." He informed him as he walked behind Chilla to untie his hands and then untying his legs.

The father nodded his understanding and helped get their guest out of the Foundry and back into the car. Ensuring that the place was all nicely locked up, they headed back to where they found him and dropped him off. Oliver got the idea to yell out an insult that would ensure the rest of the Boneheads would show up, satisfied with that, he and Maseo got back into the car and quickly took off in the other direction while the archer made a phone call to the local precinct and disguising his voice. It wouldn't take the local boys in blue to head that way since Detective Lance was still there at the time. They drove in silence until Oliver decided to turn on the radio just in time to hear some late night report about the ongoing development of the Amazonian Nation and their recent revelation of existing and looking to join the UN. Tommy had had a joke about that since the place was filled with women only, and Oliver knew his friend was lucky that one of those Amazons weren't around to hear it since they didn't look to be the type to take that sort of thing too well.

Oliver looked over at his friend as the report went on. "Soo… Wanna go back to that diner?" He asked curiously.

Maseo considered it for a moment before replying. "How about we head home for now and eat there?" Came the suggestion and Oliver shrugged his shoulders, not really caring one way or the other since he'd gotten to let out some of his pent up frustrations that had been building up awhile now since the punching bag had been removed, much to his annoyance.

His mother had used the reason that it couldn't be healthy to vent on the thing and unfortunately for him his therapists agreed with her on it. Suggesting he find other ways to vent without potentially harming himself. "Yeah why not, I love Raisa's cooking and I know you do too." He said with a grin and Maseo couldn't deny that at all as he rather had come to love the woman's cooking. The fact that Tatsu was learning from her was simply fantastic as it meant her cooking would be ten times better now!

They drive onward to the Queen Mansion, happy over their success and in Maseo's case, a bit disturbed by what he had been witness too. And fervently hoped he would never be witness to it again. Their intervention would ensure that Anna Golden and her neighborhood would be free of the Boneheads for a very long time to come as thanks to Laurel Lance, a vast majority of them would be in prison for a long time to come. And Chilla himself left the gang after a heavy amount of thinking while he was in prison, his thinking would lead him to also joining the Priesthood and being part of it until his final breath. Doing whatever he could to help others out with the burn marks of the arrow head always serving as a reminder of his former bad ways.

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**Author's Notes: And here we are! Sorry for the wait but I do hope this will have been worth it! Will this mess with Oliver's head? Oh its very likely it will and he knew that going onward with his plan despite what it was liable to do. I wonder if I should up this to an M after what happened in this chapter? Up next, a trip down the rabbit hole once again, but this time Oliver's going down it! R and R!**


	42. The Return To Badassery Isn't All That Easy Ya Know Part 1

**Disclaimer: And now the moment you've all been waiting for! Oliver's return to badassery!**

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**July 26th, 2010, somewhere in Little Vibe**

Some days and a few nightmares later found one Oliver Queen out and about wondering around Little Vibe and generally enjoying the atmosphere of the place. Thankfully he was alone as he'd FINALLY convinced his mother it was unnecessary to have anyone following him around, especially when the Diggles had other things to be doing. Their input, and even input from the therapists when he dragged her there to get an opinion from the two on the whole thing had been immensely helpful in that whole thing. The archer had found it a bit odd that he kept seeing Veller and Anna together more often in the man's office, but left it alone as it was none of his business. Even if Thea had questioned him on the subject at one point on the ride home from the man's office. He also had given her a smirk at the time that left her confused and a little paranoid as he had had a talk with the two head shrinkers about possibly talking with Thea and getting it through her head that messing with him in certain ways was just a really bad idea.

His mother hadn't been too happy with him discussing that option without her input, but eventually agreed with it and an arrangement was made for the young Queen teen to see the two at some point in the near future. Oliver was honestly curious to see how that was going to go when the time came too. The Yamashiros were also still living with the Queens as well as they were saving up enough to either return to Japan or start renting a home until it was safe to return there. Oliver was still of the opinion his friends should just stay in Starling and be done with it. But he wisely kept that to himself however. The intervention he and Maseo had done regarding the Boneheads had helped Laurel win the case and get justice for Anna Golden and her neighborhood. Something the girl had cried tears of joy about when she finally came too around two days after winding up in the hospital. An anonymous donation helped the young girl with any future payments she might have to make as well. Something else she was grateful for even if she was confused about it. Neither Tommy or Oliver had admitted to doing it despite Laurel's questions towards them. But the two had shared a knowing grin with one another when she wasn't looking at them afterwards.

Now you might be wondering why the archer was wondering about in Little Vibe, and well, the former castaway had felt drawn to the area for some reason he couldn't quite explain and easily had gotten the driver to go and do his own thing while he wondered about. He might have been able to convince his mother he was safe on his own, but driving was another matter entirely and it annoyed him too but since he hardly went anywhere it wasn't much of an issue for the time being. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted an old sign above a door over on Christy Street called 'Madame Xanadu's Fortune Tellings and Curiousities'. The draw he was feeling compelled him to go to there and he went with it and found himself wishing he had something to protect himself in case something of the not good variety happened to occur.

Pushing open the door and coming inside to a dimly lit area, musty smells assaulted his senses but thankfully it wasn't entirely horrible. Items in the place were quite frankly odd to him as some it of looked like it would belong on a movie or in a museum for that matter. The fact there was a real live Crow on a perch without a cage was a little odd for him as well, but so long as it didn't attack him he was okay with it. Oliver stood in the middle of the building looking around in confusing as he scratched his head wondering why he would feel so damn drawn to this place. "Hello young Archer, and welcome to my humble parlor." A soft enchanting voice spoke up from behind him, instantly startling him as he turned around in shock and ready to strike out, only to find that he couldn't quite do that much to his confusion.

The fact she was smiling at him irked him a bit too. "My apologies for the startle as was not my intent." The black haired, long red dress and choker wearing woman informed him as she slid past him and letting his hand go in the process.

Oliver turned around feeling confused even more. "Who are? How did you?" His questions gained him another smile of amusement from the mysterious woman.

"I, my dear Archer am Madame Xanadu. And as for how I stopped you from striking out at me, I merely used simple magics to do so." Magic? Please! This lady is obviously on something!

"Ah, an unbeliever then?" She asked as she could easily see the strong doubt in his features over her claim.

Eying her warily and wondering if he should high tail it out of there, he told her that was pretty much it since magic wasn't real. "Oh my dear boy, there are things in this world that are far more real then you know." Well, he had to give her that one since there had been the whole Mirakuru thing back on the Island. But magic? Come on now!

Xanadu wondered if he was going to catch on to the fact she kept calling him 'Archer', but figured his current state kept him from realizing it. Ah well, all the more fun for her with the whole mysterious thing! Which wfas something she loved to do and despite her long lived life it was still something that never got old for her. Deciding to get down to business, at least to some degree, she asked him what brought him to her little shop while knowing full well what brought him to her. "I'm… I'm not sure to be honest, I just felt drawn here." He admitted and not liking that he had been drawn to a place with a crazy lady who probably needed a few cats to complete the image.

"Hmm… As most do when it comes my little shop." That made him wonder just how many others had been somehow suckered into visiting this place.

As if reading his mind, she helpfully told him that magic worked in mysterious ways that still amazed even her. However he was still doubtful but she couldn't blame him for that. But she had a feeling that after today, he'd be something of a believer when all was said and done. "When one tends to visit me and my shop, there is a journey they must go on that is integral in their lives. Naturally, not all who visit here need to do this but I believe we can assume you are not a mere shopper." A journey? Yeah, try telling his mother that and she'd be likely to flip! No doubt insisting he had someone go with him or wouldn't let him do it to begin with!

And as if knowing what he was thinking, the woman spoke up again. "Have no worries young Archer, the journey you will go on will not take you far from home. As such, your coming here this day is fortuitous as there is an item in need of recovery and I believe you best for this task." His eyebrows rose up pretty high and the feeling of spookedness rose up a bit more the longer he was around this questionably crazy woman.

"How the Hell are you doing that!?" He demanded to know.

She looked at him with amusement written on her face. "Magic my boy, magic! Do keep up!" She responded teasingly. That and years of practice in this sort of thing. Not that she would tell him that, oh no most certainly not!

Her response was something of an indignant huff from the former castaway, but the fact he had yet to leave her parlor had told her that his curiousity was getting the better of him. Either that or the pull here was just simply too much. "I'm still calling crap on this whole magic thing and I hate to burst your bubble but I'm no good for some recovery job." He told her and if it wasn't for his shoulder he'd be more interested in doing this recovery job since it would beat going home.

The good madame, already being quite aware of his shoulder's current predicament already had a plan in mind to help with it for the task ahead. She knew as well that afterwards he would definitely be changing his tune about magic. "Call as much 'crap' as you wish young Archer for it bothers me not. I know what I know and I have a feeling you too will soon know it." Her tone wasn't reprimanding or annoyed, but merely the same calm as it'd been since she had shown up behind him and he wondered how she was able to pull it off despite how he was acting and figured that he wasn't exactly her first difficult customer. Her belief that he would soon 'know' as she did wasn't something he was too sure about though. Of course why he hadn't exactly left just yet was beyond him.

"As for your shoulder's problem, may I direct your attention to this table?" She pointed out towards the left side of the shop and walked towards it and Oliver soon followed after her.

Coming to it, he saw several pieces of armor that were colored green, along with a sword. He found it a bit ironic that the armor was green colored since Yao Fei's hood that later belonged to Shado before becoming his is also green. Making him wonder if this particular color was going to somehow be a big factor in his life and if he should be worried about that. He looked from the armor to the woman. "This… Is supposed to help me out? If anything the weight of it will likely have me in pain." Was his protest as he wasn't looking to get more pain thank you very much!

"Is that so? Perhaps you should try it on then to see if that is the case." Her words were a challenge and he wasn't about to back down from it.

Looking away from her to the table, he grabbed the chainmail and put it over his grey short sleeved t-shirt and to his surprise he found it wasn't as heavy as he thought it was. He looked at her with a frown on his face and she merely smiled at him, spurred on by that he grabbed the Sentinal segmented double strap leather shoulder armor that looked to have seen better days and applied it to his left shoulder with some assistance from Xanadu. Which only added to his surprise when he found it too to be light on him. Looking at her again only to see her smile widening, he felt a mild sense of annoyance over that and reached for the leg bracers.

Only with these, they felt just a little heavy, prompting him to look at her and get a shrug of the shoulders. "Well its only your shoulder that needs to be light after all." She told him and he had to admit she had a point.

Quickly putting them on and liking the fact that both had arrows in the middle, Oliver then reached for the belt that contained the sheathed sword. The belt, the sheath, and from what he could see of the sword were about the only things not green and instead were a mix of silver and black. Fastening the belt securely on his brown jeans, he then put on a pair of gauntlets that would look right at home in some fantasy novel. Metal on top for better protection and leather for the underside to help protect against any warm surfaces if there was a need for it. Once they were properly fastened to his hands, he pulled out the sword from its sheath and despite it too looking a bit worn, it didn't seem to be in danger from breaking. All the while Xanadu, or Nimue as she was sometimes known as looked on happily.

For whatever reason Oliver didn't quite understand, he felt ready for the task ahead despite the utter ridiculousness of it all. Hell he felt like he was getting ready for one of those weird role play things and would likely get made fun of by Tommy if his best friend were to see him in it. Thea would likely join in on that too knowing her. Looking around for a helmet and seeing nothing after re-sheating his sword, the archer looked towards Nimue once again. "What? No helmet?"

The woman shook her head at him in the negative. "No, it wouldn't do to limit your vision in a time like this considering the fact you would be un-used to it."

 _She's got a point there, still maybe a hood would be nice…_  He thought to himself.

"Well what about a hood?" That wouldn't limit him too badly as he was quite familiar with them.

He then realized what he was talking about and doing.  _The Hell am I doing!? Am I really going along with this!?_  He thought to himself incredulously.

Paying him no mind as she considered his request about a hood, she looked around and quickly saw what she felt he needed. Reaching over a rack and pulling back a forest green hood that would also cover a portion of the upper area of his body with black strings to help keep it secured so as not to fly away, she smiled in satisfaction. Nimue also fondly remembered that a certain rogue who sought to help the less fortunate during his time wore this very same hood at one point as well. "Here we are young Archer, I believe this will do well by you." She informed him as she held out the hood and decided not to inform him of its origins as she didn't think he'd quite believe it.

But considering what she knew of about the young man's future, she felt it appropriate that he would wear this very hood. Even if it was perhaps for one occasion only. Oliver looked at it before taking it and feeling the fabric in his hands. He didn't think about it too much before pulling it over his head and adjusting so it covered a bit of his chest, shoulders, and back. The man had to admit he rather liked it even though he wouldn't have minded if the hood didn't have the lower portion to it. But he'd take what he could get. And while the former castaway still wasn't too sure about this as he didn't want to get laughed at for wearing something like this out in public, he felt more ready and prepared then he had in quite awhile.

Turning to the woman the Queen Scion still felt was questionably crazy, she gave him a nod of satisfaction. "Yes, yes. I feel you are ready young Archer. And if you worry of walking about in public with this, fear not for there are ways to go around that." And no, she wasn't talking about the sewers either! Well… Not entirely anyway!

The armor wearing archer looked at her with eyebrows raised, only to get a smirk in return as she walked off towards another area of the parlor and with a sigh he followed along. The two came to an archway and with a few muttered words it came to life. Pretty much shocking the Hell out of Oliver. "What the Hell!? He asked stunnedly.

Looking back at him, she helpfully informed him that this was a gateway that only needed but a few words to be activated and when activated would take the one who walked in it where they needed to go. Oliver was skeptical of the whole thing but he found himself at least willing to humor the lady. Nimue looked around and spotted what she was looking for. Which happened to be a stick wrapped in cloth around the top and handed it to him. Though confused, he accepted it and soon got an answer to his unasked question. "This is a torch that needs not the usual methods to be lit. As all you need to do is say 'Light' and it does so!" And as if to prove her words were true, the torch came a light, surprising Oliver once again.

"Whoa..." He muttered as that was one Hell of a trick.

"And when the flame is no longer needed, you simply say 'Light, no more.'" She informed him and he watched as it responded to the command.

Well, that would be easy to remember at least he considered. "So, I guess against my better judgement I'm doing this job. And speaking of that, what exactly am I recovering?" This was certainly going to be one of those things he just would NEVER talk about. As not only would anyone be unlikely to believe him, but some would probably want to put him back in the ward again.

Nimue was pleased by his growing willingness to do this task, well she might be stretching the growing willingness part a bit but hey it if it works, then it works. The fact he asked her what she was sending him for also pleased her as it made things much, much easier. "Your task young Archer, is to locate and retrieve a scale that is five inches in length and width. It is a light blue color so it will be easy to spot. This bag will be what you will place it in for safe keeping." She informed him as she seemingly pulled said bag from out of nowhere.

"Right, seems easy enough." He replied as he took the bag from her and attached it to his belt. He'd also finally realized what she had kept calling him and wondered like crazy yet again on how she even knew about his skill in that. But figured he could ask about that later, even though he suspected what the likely answer would be.

She chuckled at his words as she knew full well this wasn't going to be as easy as he seemed to think. "Easy is not the word I would use for the task before you will not be an easy one. That I can assure you of." She helpfully informed him, causing the former castaway to frown a ittle.

 _Great, at least I got a warning so that helps so much._  Came a sarcastic thought.

"Well... Thanks for being helpful enough to ruin my hopes." The archer muttered sarcastically.

Taking it in good will instead of offense, the woman of the parlor cheerfully gave him a 'you're welcome' in response. Much to his slight annoyance.

"I warn you now as you go about this quest, you will see things that will shake the foundations of your beliefs. And you must not allow this to make you falter for it could be your undoing. Should you return successful, a reward will be given to you that I think you will be most happy with." He scoffed at that as he didn't need a reward to this while worrying quite a bit over her other words. Hell it got him out of the house and that was reward enough. Even if there was some dangers involved.

"A reward's not really necessary." He told her but she would have none of it.

"On the contrary my dear Archer, you will like this one. Now… Off you go and when the task is complete, you need not worry on how to return here for the archway will handle it." She got a skeptical look in return for that but all she did was merely smile at him.

Looking away from her and into the glowing whiteness in the middle of the archway, Oliver took a deep breath and stepped forward into the unknown. Wondering if he would regret this as he walked into it. Nimue watched him until the glow of the archway vanished and the parlor was dimly lit again. "May the magics watch over you young Oliver." She said softly before walking away.

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**Author's Notes: And now begins what I've been looking forward to doing for awhile now! Looking forward to reading your thoughts on this one! And boy did I have some fun in researching armor and Madame Xanadu for this chapter! RIP to 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, may the bag pipes be a plenty in Heaven for you.**


	43. The Return To Badassery Isn't All That Easy Ya Know Part 2

**Disclaimer: And we are back! As always, I own nothing but what you see here. "Whoo-hoo?" Lennier to Sheridan on Babylon 5.**

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After stepping into the archway and onto the other side, Oliver quickly found himself in a tunnel that had very little lighting. Especially once the archway's light vanished and leaving him in darkness until he got closer to the light of one of the torches down the hall. He found himself wondering how in the world he was going to find some scale in a poorly lit place like this since it was going to make that job even more difficult!  _Well… No backing out now for me._  He thought as he used the wording to light his torch up and started walking down the tunnel.

The amount of dust and cobwebs told him the place looked pretty damned old too, making him hope he wasn't going to wind up falling through a hole cause of how old the place was. It wasn't long before he came to a medium sized room with some very unusual occupants in it too at a table. They also looked to be eating something and rather messily too at that. Oliver quickly hid himself at the inner end of the tunnel so as to be less likely to get spotted while also shutting off his torch. He wondered just what the Hell those things were since they looked to be red skinned and that just wasn't natural. His attention was grabbed however when another of the things appeared in the room growling in what for all he knew was their language. His eyes had also widened at the sight of the thing as well.

As it featured two small horns going up the sides of his forehead, three fingers on each hand, wore a loin cloth, and had hooves for feet.  _Alright… Now I know I'm losing it finally cause I'm seeing something that's just NOT real!_  Sure, he had been warned but come on! This was just too damn much!

Whatever the thing was saying however, got the other two in motion, leaving the room to be empty. Waiting a few minutes before cautiously stepping into the room, he looked around as he came up to the table and looked at what the things had been eating. And what he saw nearly made him vomit as they had been eating the remains of a body! Stepping away quickly, he went towards the door way where the things had gone and promised himself and whoever the poor soul was that he'd get payback for what had been done.  _Nothing but a bunch of damn animals…_  He thought savagely in his head.

Unfortunately for him however, one of the red skinned things came in through the very door he was going towards, making him freeze where he stood.  _Aww crap._

The thing started to speak in whatever passed for a langauge again and Oliver quickly found himself drawing his sword and impaling the thing right in its torso before it could get closer to him. Using a leg, he kicked the thing away as he pulled out its sword and watched as it stumbled back into the open doorway and on to its back. Walking quickly out the doorway, he stepped up to the beast with his sword pointed right at its forehead. "Justice for the poor soul in that room." He told it before impaling the thing with his blade and the creature let out a screech of pain before dying.

Pulling the blade out and re-sheathing it with a nod of satisfaction, he went on down the path. Which was considerably more alight then what the first tunnel he'd been in was. However it made him wish he could put his torch somewhere secure so that he wasn't having to hold it continuously.  _Next time, ask for a holder of some kind._  The thought made him stop walking as he realized what he had just thought with a groan.

"I really am losing it." He muttered to himself with a shake of the head as he went on.

It wasn't long before he came to a bridge that looked to be pretty long in what looked to be a really wide cavern. Coming to the edge and looking down and seeing that the drop was so deep it was pitch black. "Let's just hope I don't wind up falling off."

Making his way across the bridge without incident thankfully enough, it wasn't until he got to the end that a problem presented itself in the form of three entrances. Letting out a breath and wishing for a map to help him out with this mess. The archer didn't have long before he wound up making a decision to in to the left entrance as he heard foot steps coming from both the middle and right entrances. Two red skinned creatures made their appearance, one shorter and fatter then other while the other was taller and more leaner. The taller one caught a whif of something and stalked off towards the the left path with a guttural growl that had its friend following closely behind, both salivating at the thought of some prey to catch!

For Oliver, the path he went on unfortunately came to a dead end in the form of a whole lot of barrels, making him curse angrily for having gone down the wrong path. The sight of the barrels made him wonder why they were all even here to begin with and figuring that he had nothing to lose, he started to look in one. Only to quickly close it when he saw green apples on the inside.  _I HATE apples! How the Hell are they following me down here!?_  Was his paranoid line of thinking.

He then looked into another one and found it filled with some kind of bubbling liquid that made him quickly put the lid back on as he wasn't willing to find out what that stuff was. His investigation of the barrels didn't continue for much longer however as the footsteps he'd heard previously were getting close, making our questing archer curse again as he had no where to hide. Leaning his torch up against a barrel and putting a hand on the hilt of his sword, he faced towards the entrance, ready to take on his guests.

Who were just as ugly as the other creatures he'd seen. Upon arrival, the shorter one pointed at him as they growled at him. Oliver thanked his lucky stars he had this sword and protection for his right shoulder as the somewhat small area was going to make this a bit of a difficult fight. And he didn't have long to wait either as the tall one of the two charged at him, something he sidestepped and stuck his foot out and made the thing fall hard onto a barrel and breaking it. The shorter one gave what amounted to a battle cry and charged at him with its sharp claws on each finger ready to cut deep into him. Not that he planned on letting that happen however.

Quickly drawing his sword and charging at it, he made short work of it by cutting the thing's head off with a sudden spin attack on it. Both head and body went flying into several barrels as his tall friend got up to its feet and quickly took in its surroundings and definitely not liking what it saw where its companion was concerned. Letting out a deafening screech that made Oliver wince, the thing attacked him and he managed to side step it again making it even more angrier then what it already was. It charged at him again and he grabbed the torch and swung it at the thing's face causing it to stumble back. "Rawrgh!" It bellowed in pain while clutching its face.

"Right back atcha!" Oliver called back and using the moment to his advantage, tore off out of the room and back to the three entrances.

Sheathing his sword as he ran straight into the right entrance while not even really thinking about it. The archer wound up tripping hard to the ground with an 'oof'. Looking around confusedly as he quickly got up, he finally saw what looked to be skeletal remains but wasn't sure if they were human or from the things he'd encountered in this place. "Sorry about that." He told the bones as it didn't do well to disturb one's resting place.

Continuing on from there and into another big wide area and not seeing any obstacles as he went on. However that turned out to be a false sense of security since a large and very, very tall red skinned creature came charging at him from out of no where with a bellow. Eyes widening in surprise, he ducked out of the way with a roll and causing the large creature to stumble a bit after missing its target. Giving off another bellow as it turned around and charged at him again, leaving Oliver to yet again roll out of harm's way. " _This is the moment where you will either live or die. Which will be your path?_ " A male voice called out, much to the confusion of Oliver.

"The Hell!?" Was his confused question as he dodged another swipe from the creature.

Pulling out his sword once again, he thrusted it right into the creature's oncoming hand and resulting in two of its fingers being cut off. It roared in pain as it held its bleeding hand and Oliver made sure to get a good amount of distance away from it. " _Hmm… Very good, almost worthy of my exploits from olden times._ " The voice commented, making the archer even more confused as to where in the world it was coming from.

He didn't have long to contemplate it however as the creature started to bellow at him in its langauge before charging at him. Oliver quickly side stepped it and cut into the creature's leg and making it bellow from more pain once again. The former castaway knew he couldn't keep doing this forever as eventually he would get tired so he was going to have to find a way to end this somehow. Looking at his torch and getting an idea while hoping the creature wasn't fire proof somehow. He commanded it to light up and charged at the beast and swiped at its ankle with the flame from the torch and to his satisfaction catching on fire too.

"ARGH!" It bellowed and stumbled about as the fire rapidly spread. Taking his cue with that, Oliver hauled ass across the room and to one of the paths it had that hopefully led him to his target.

" _Ingenius idea to use the flames in such a way. I admit it was something I hadn't considered myself. But still, the question is… Life or Death? What is your preferred choice?_ " The voice asked, making Oliver wonder why it was bothering him for and making him think yet again that he was going nuts.

"I prefer to be alive myself." Was the muttered response as he went on.

" _Yes, don't we all?_ "

Sighing agitatedly to himself and choosing not to give an answer to what was most likely a rhetorical question. He was sooned stopped in his tracks however when he heard a ripping sound, finding himself curious and hoping like crazy it wasn't another poor soul being torn apart by these things. He went to where the noise had come from and peeking through a hole in the door led him to seeing a truly horrible sight. That of what looked to be a child in pieces and the creatures inside happily going about their business as their fellow being ate with relish of the child's flesh. Growling angrily to himself, Oliver sat down the torch, pulled out his sword, and kicked in the door that nicely enough flew off the hinges.

Something he'd later figure was down to the fact that the door itself was old as Hell. Charging at the creatures with a yell and not giving them an inch. The fight didn't last long as soon Oliver was the only one left standing with their blood all over the place including him. Breathing heavily as he sheathed his sword again, he looked down sadly at the torn apart child before walking on. "I'm sorry I didn't get here much sooner kid, but at least justice has been gained for you."

Picking up his torch, he set the room on fire before continuing deeper into wherever it was he was at, the archer swore that if any of these damn things came after his sister or even Akio that no place on the Earth could keep them safe from his wrath. These creatures were horrible things that needed to be taken down without hesitation. " _Careful now, a path such as that could prove perilous._ " the voice warned him, not that he particularly cared as he was more worried about the safety of his sister and Akio.

And before the archer's very eyes was white all around him. Looking around confusedly at the sudden thing before realizing that his hair wasn't falling down in to his eyes. Moving a hand up to mess with his hair, he realized that it was shorter somehow and that he was apparently no longer wearing his armor. Looking down at himself, he quickly realized to his immense confusion that he was dressed in the clothing he had worn the night the Gambit had sank. The additions of two silver bracelets on his wrists was another thing that confused him. "And I've finally cracked..."

A clacking sound caught the confused man's attention and it came from a figure dressed in an old styled suit with a top hat and a cane. He looked rather gaunt and gave off a creepy vibe. "Cracked? I think not, but the day is young after all so perhaps that is what will happen. Or it may not, it merely depends on you."

Oliver's eyebrows rose at that, wondering if he was supposed to try and figure out that mumbo jumbo. "Who are you and where am I for that matter?"

The man walked around him as if he was judging him possibly. "My name? Is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. As for where you are, does it matter when the real true question is why are you here?"

"How the Hell should I know why I'm here? I was happily minding my own business when I got brought to wherever here is." Oliver snapped at him and was suddenly feeling the sensation of electricity coursing through him.

"The Hell!?" That was not something he relished feeling as it brought up memories he'd rather not be thinking about right now thank you very much!

"The bracelets on your wrists are my doing and they will be used to shock you should you provide me the wrong answer. Now I shall ask again, why are you here?" The man asked as he walked up to him and getting a glare in the process, not that he particularly cared.

 _Why the Hell did I agree to this crap? If I knew about this I never would have agreed._  Oliver angrily thought and vowed to have words with the woman in the shop.

His interrogator began to walk around him as he waited for an answer, an answer that wasn't long in coming. "I'm… I'm here to recover something. Some kind of a scale." Oliver finally answered only to get a shock for it in return, much to his annoyance.

"Wrong answer! Now again I ask... Why. Are. You. Here?" The man asked again with that deceptively calm voice that just angered Oliver.

"I told you! I'm here to recover a damn scale!" Oliver yelled out and got another shock that made him drop to his knees.

The figure knelt down and stared him right into the eye. "Wrong again, I know the task that brings you here and I've no care for that. The answer to my question shall be heard before long. Its only a matter of you yourself really knowing why you are here."

Oliver thought long and hard as the man continued to stare at him and when he really finally thought about it. He realized he had actually went for this in the end cause he wanted something to do, something that would allow him to be useful once again and not just lounge about at home like a useless lump and eventually think of things he'd rather not think about or remember. With a sigh, he looked up at the man and stared him right in the eye. "I'm here because I wanted something to do that would keep me from sitting around and eventually thinking about things I don't want to think about. Things I don't want to particularly remember." He wasn't particularly happy with that revelation as he'd rather be able to help cause he could and not cause he didn't want to remember. This was probably going to be something he was gonna have to talk to Veller about pretty soon. Maybe Anna too if she was there.

A nod was all he received in return before the man stood up and walked away a short distance before turning back to look down at him. "Very good, you're beginning to learn and now we can move on to determine if you are worthy enough to take the scale." This was all cause of that damn thing!? Now wasn't that some crap?

Hell, Oliver didn't even think he wanted to go after it anymore after having that revelation about himself dragged out of him. Not to mention all the shocks from the damn bracelets. "This… This is all cause you want to know if I'm worthy enough to take the scale? Shouldn't you be asking the lady who sent me to get it that question?"

"The woman is not important for this task like yourself. She may feel you are right for this but I must determine for myself if whether or not you are. The task of recovering the scale is no simple thing as you've no doubt learned already, but the power it has is not meant to be held by weak willed fools who don't really know why they are here or even really know who they are." The man had been walking about as he spoke, with the clacking being heard as the cane touched the ground every so often. His final words confused the archer as he wasn't sure what the guy was talking about when it came to not knowing who a person was.

He was pretty sure he knew who he was or well… Who he wasn't anymore. "You… Want to know who I am?" Oliver asked, hoping this would clear up any confusion and gain more understanding.

The cane was pointed at him as the man looked in his direction once more. "Yes, I want to know who you are and who you are not. Is who you are defined by your skills or is who you are defined by who or who doesn't know you?" A frown appeared on Oliver's face as he really didn't like the idea of his person being defined by who knew him or that his skills made him who he was. His skills were a part of him, not who he was. And while he was grateful for those in his life, they didn't make him who he was either. His choices in life made him who he was.

"Well I can tell you I'm not Ollie." And he was damned certain of that too, even if the guy didn't have a clue about that part of him.

"No, I would rather think you aren't. A name such as 'Ollie' belongs to a childish fool who refuses to grow up. A fool who would rather go through life doing as he pleased with little thought to the consequences." Well he had a damn good accurate line of thinking about that Oliver reasoned to himself.

"Now, who are you?"

Oliver didn't have to think about that answer for very long. "I am not Ollie, but I am Oliver Queen. Someone who knows about consequences, someone who is not a fool and has grown up. Even if the way I wound up finally growing up wasn't exactly ideal, it changed me from a jerk to someone who can be better." And he was certain of that too, the nod he got seemed to be acceptable as well.

"That is acceptable. You are a quick one and I've no doubt the adversities you've been through has helped in that regard. No doubt the adversities you have yet to go through will help mold you further." Did this mean this interrogation was over with? Cause as much as he liked to get his personality and reasons psychoanalized as much as the next person did, he really wanted to get a move on and then get out of what basically amounted to something that was close to his idea of Hell. And then if at all possible, go get his head shrunk to see what he could do to separate doing something cause he wanted to not think about things and doing something just because.

His father's list was something he knew was going to be an issue that would need to be dealt with sooner or later as well. And he would have to right his father's wrongs by using the right reasons to do so as per the man's final request. Yes, one of those reasons would be because his father asked him to do it in order to right his wrongs, but there needed to be more to it then that. Would righting his father's wrongs help others? This is something he wanted to know, and knowing more on the names in those books would help him with that and any other reason in the long run that would allow his father to truly rest. Which meant he would have to go back to Lian Yu and that was an idea that didn't entirely sit well with him.

"Keep in mind what you've learned here in the days to come, for it will help guide you on your path." The man told him and in a flash of light, he was gone and Oliver was on his feet in the tunnel he'd been in previously and thankfully in his gear and those bracelets no where in sight. Much to his happiness.

Not only that, but he had company coming as well in the form of ten of the red skinned creatures. And he certainly would keep what he learned in mind as well while wondering how the Hell the man even knew what he did. It would be something to ask the shop lady when he got back. And get back he would as he wasn't dying in this dump! Grumbling to himself about bad timing, he threw the torch to the side and pulled his sword and charged at the oncoming creatures who were certainly looking to kill him.

**Thirty Minutes Later**

Thirty minutes after taking care of the creatures and getting even more blood on him and becoming even more thankful for the armor he had on as he most certainly could have been killed, the former castaway was on his way again to complete his quest after taking a well deserved break. Said break had also made him aware of the unfortunate fact that wherever he was ensured that his phone was pretty much useless aside from telling him the time. Learning that he'd been in this place for roughly two hours now had made him curse quite loudly as it made him realize he was going to have to come up with a damn good believable excuse when he got home too. Nicely enough, he had come cross a bow and a quiver of arrows that had been left near a skeleton and thinking he could put it to better use while hoping none of it would break on him, he strapped the quiver onto him and even stuck the torch inside it, glad at last that he had something to put it in. The bow itself was a Longbow type and looked to be made of wood, though what kind even he wasn't sure of. The string for it looked to be in decent condition and thankfully was after testing it out with one of the arrows on a dead creature.

Now that he had a bow in hand and arrows ready to be used, Oliver felt more in his element now that he had them. And even though he still had a hard time believing magic existed, the archer hoped that the former owner of the equipment wouldn't wind up cursing him somehow for taking it.  _A curse would be oh so much fun._  Came a sarcastic thought as he went on.

Coming to a really large room that had a second level to it with stairs intact and torches in various places to provide some lighting, Oliver quickly saw a statue of a woman that looked to be holding what he was looking for. Along with several other items that surrounded it. Walking cautiously in the hopes he wouldn't step on a trap of some kind, he slowly made his way to the statue and even he had to admit that the woman it was apparently made after was beautiful. But it made him wonder why such a thing was even here. Shaking away the line of thinking about the statue, Oliver got out his bag so that he could put the scale inside, which was giving off one heck of a radiant light that made him squint a bit so as to avoid being temporarily blinded.

However, because he had been immersed in this, it caused him to miss the fact that something rather tall and not particularly happy was behind him. The first clue was the new arrival clearing its throat. Making Oliver's eyes widen in surprise.  _Aww crap._

Slowly looking behind him, the first thing he saw was what looked to be deep brown hair on a wide leg with an equally wide hoof attached at the bottom. Gulping nervously, he looked upwards and what was seen made him gasp in shock. As seeing those red skinned creatures was one thing, but something with a head that looked like a freaking Bull that stood at twelve inches and wore armor was a completely different matter entirely! The look on its face wasn't exactly re-assuring either! " **You dare to come here little human!?** "

 _Holy s**t, it speaks! This really makes me prefer an apple right now._  He thought stunnedly. How the Hell was he gonna get out of this one!? Cause this thing looked like it came straight out of a science fiction movie for crying out loud!

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 **Author's Notes: Oh my! Just what has Oliver gotten himself into now!? Will he survive!? Will he eat an apple if he does!?**   **Find out in the next exciting chapter! And for those curious about Oliver's little visitor, I got to watching Babylon 5 again recently and a character on there who appeared for an episode named Sebastian was someone I decided to use here. Only with out the alien connection, well.. Maybe. Naturally the guy is just as nice on there as he is here. Any of you see the apparent new/old love interest for Oliver in season 4 news yet? If so, what's your thoughts on that? With that said and even asked, I hope there was much enjoyment! R and R!**


	44. The Return To Badassery Isn't All That Easy Ya Know Part 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here good buddies! "To be the best, you've got to beat the best." Ric Flair**

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"You… You… You talk!?" Oliver finally got out in a stunned voice.

The Bull like creature huffed annoyedly and smoke blew out of its nose, freaking the stunned archer out even more. " **Of course I talk, just cause I'm a Minotaur doesn't mean I'm not intelligent!** " Grumbled the now identified Minotaur. Who also seemed to feel rather insulted much to Oliver's disbelief.

 _Of course he talks, why wouldn't he talk? And I've insulted him for thinking otherwise. I'm gonna get smashed and I'm never gonna get to be annoyed by Thea ever again!_ Oh yeah, he was clearly panicking when he wasn't normally one to panic. Which he had plenty of chances to do back on the Island and in Hong Kong but never did for whatever reason.

Oliver let out a nervous little chuckle as he started to talk. "Well… Yeah, of course you're intelligent. Why wouldn't be? I know I certainly can't think of a reason why not..." Other then the fact this thing is a creature straight out of science fiction anyway!? Not something he was going to point out however as he really didn't want to get smashed into pieces. Oh sweet Jesus did he wish this was all a dream!

The Minotaur looked at him with what may have been suspicion but Oliver wouldn't have honestly been able to tell. " **Hmmph… At least one human thinks I am. That'll show up** **the Goddess** **Circe.** " And it would too since she had a rather low opinion of creatures like him despite her long years of usage of beings like himself.

"Oh yeah, for sure." He didn't know who the Hell Circe was but that was okay as he didn't need to know. And he really hoped the big creature wasn't paying enough attention to the fact that he was slowly inching away to get some good distance away. Hey, maybe the shop lady would be understanding about the fact he came across this thing and decided to do the reasonably smart thing and haul ass?

" **And just where do you think you're going little human? For that matter, why are you here?** " He would strike down this little human if need be, lest he face the punishment Circe would no doubt place upon him. The only reason this little man would even be here was for the scale as there wasn't much else. And the fact he had gotten past the Shohaki scattered through out the maze was an alarming thing as it was.

"Why am I here? Oh uhh.. Just you know, sight seeing and stuff." Oliver had to wince at that considering how weak it sounded in his own ears. But hey give him a break! He was having to think quickly here!

Something told him however that the Minotaur didn't exactly believe him however. Whether or not he should be worried about the fact he could tell that now was another matter entirely. But he chalked it up to all the experience he had in trying and failing to get terrible lies across to his parents growing up. " **I've heard the Shohaki tell better lies then that.** " Well, wasn't that just wonderful?

"Okay, you caught me. I got dared into coming here and seeing if that scale thing over there was real or not. You know how us Americans are." Unfortunately for him, his new acquaintance was a sheltered fellow and only really knew about Greece. Which, actually is where they were as it is.

" **Hmm… I've never heard of this… American you speak of. I only know of Greece!** " Really, what lies this human tried to pass off as truth! While this guy might be intelligent, he was scarely ignorant of things outside of Greece. Something Circe herself preferred as it meant the less a beast knew, the more power she had over them.

Oliver had to admit to feeling a slight bit of pity for the creature's lack of knowledge about anything other then Greece. He wondered if it even knew its own name if it even had one. "So… You got a name?"

The look of surprise, or what could have been surprise came across the Minotaur's face as no one really could be bothered enough to ask him about it. " **I know not why you ask my name little human, but I shall tell you. I am Bathurias, son of Balmarias. What of you?** " Well that was informative Oliver had to admit to himself.

Even though he didn't think he'd ever come across this big fella again, telling a little lie to the guy probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Hopefully he wouldn't even be able to tell if he was lying! "I'm Slade, son of Douche Ivo." The archer told him with a fake smile on his face while inwardly cheering at his quick thinking.

" **Well met son of Douche Ivo, but I'm afraid I must kill you now. As trespassers are not really allowed here. Even if they are a decent sort for conversation.** " And the crazy thing for Oliver's ears is that the big fella actually sounded sad about that!

"Well… Its not like you have to kill me or anything. I mean its not like anyone would know right?" After all, only he would know!

A fist flying at him was all he needed to know that his attempt didn't work like he hoped it would. A fist he was thankfully about to avoid as he ducked and rolled out of the way. How he was even going to win against sometihng taller then him and take the scale was beyond him! But he'd do it cause he was Oliver Queen, survivor of Lian Yu and the icy tendrils of Amanda Waller. Quickly dodging a few more swipes before pulling out his sword and slicing at it Bathurias' oncoming hand, which unfortunately the force of that sent him off his feet and a few feet away from him as the Minotaur howled in pain from the cut on his hand.

" **I have not been struck in thirty years! I will kill you yet, but have no fear for you will always be remembered for such a feat!** " Bathurias bellowed in a mix of joy and anger and pretty much baffling Oliver in the process. As you'd think he'd be a little bit more angrier then that!

_Apples pale in comparison to this crap._

Getting a sudden idea that he hoped would work like it did with the big red skinned creature he encountered earlier, he pulled out his torch and commanded it to light up. Nocking it carefully so as not to catch the bow on fire, he let it fly right into the Minotaur's chest. Unfortunately he felt a twinge from his shoulder but ignored it as he didn't need to split his focus on that. However, much to his dismay, Bathurias batted it away towards the entrance he'd came in from. Wherever it landed however must have been a trap as a resounding boom went off that nearly made Oliver fall over while flaming debris went everywhere. Bathurias hadn't paid it any mind since he was busy grumbling to himself about human punks catching his fur on fire.

Seeing an opportunity, Oliver charged at the tall Minotaur with his sword and managed to get in a decent strike at his lower leg. Sending his would be pal hopping around from the unexpected pain. His heavyness was enough to shake the whole room much to the archer's surprise as he hadn't really thought he would be that ridiculously heavy.  _Why I shouldn't assume anything in situations like these._

Bathurias' hopping around caused another trap to go off that sent a wave of flames at him that he was thankfully able to narrowly dodge. Though he did have to quickly stomp his boot to get the little flame on it put out.  _Either I'm lucky or really fortunate I didn't step on either of those traps…_ The notion of being a Kentucky Fried Oliver was not his idea of a good time.

Moving quickly out of the way of an oncoming attack, the archer quickly hauled butt towards the steps to the second floor of the room where he'd hopefully be more safer from an angry Minotaur's wrath. The columns on the upper floor would help keep him concealed, for how long he wasn't sure of and who knew if the big guy could trash them with ease. He flitted in between a few of the columns and fired off four arrows in total. Mostly to see where they would hit on Bathurias' body. A loud growling could be heard from him as he pulled the arrows out and snapped them in half. " **Your arrows are merely tickle toys little human so I would suggest you stop before you run out. Not that it would do any good.** " He said as he looked where he could in between the columns of the second floor.

"I'm a Douche Ivo, we don't give up that easily!" Called out Oliver mockingly and getting a huff of annoyance from the big guy.

Nocking another arrow and biding his time, the former castaway didn't have to wait much longer until he was able to get in a shot. One that went right into Bathurias' right eye and sending him bellowing into pure rage and pain as he hurriedly pulled out the arrow and taking the eye with it as well. His screams included cussing out the name Oliver gave him while also proclaiming his now undying hatred for his foul little human self. While he couldn't understand a word of what the Minotaur was saying, the archer did figure it was probably things he'd already been called before. But it did sound pretty colorful and it made him wish he could learn it. If only to insult Tommy with out his friend knowing it when he was being an idiot about something.

Or just to insult anybody else for that matter. Yeah, it was childish of him but hey, he didn't want to be all doom and gloom all the time! There'd been enough of that as it was already. Spotting a hanging chain while his would be pal stomped around the room and raising a ruckus, he ran for it and swung toward the direction of the scale. Landing hard on his feet, he quickly stood up and raced towards the scale and quickly put it inside the bag he was given before re-tying it to his belt. "I hate to cut and run, but I got a scale to deliver." He informed the one eyed Minotaur cheerfully.

" **WHAAAAAT!? THAT IS NOT FOR YOU!** " Damnit, if this human took off with the scale Circe would have his head on a platter! He could not let that happen! No matter how much pain he was in!

Figuring that hauling ass was the better option, Oliver high tailed it out of the nearest opening as Bathurias stomped after him and causing more traps to go off that were quite loud and explosive. Making the former castaway damned glad he hadn't somehow set those off and wondered if maybe it was a weight difference after being left along for so long. Making his way down the hallway as a wave of flame came at him, he quickly went down another hallway after spotting some of the red skinned creatures. Unfortunately the flames seemed to have a mind of their own as it split off and followed him. Making the man curse for his rotten luck in all this.

As he hauled ass down the hallway, a glow caught his attention. A glow that seemed to have a ladder attached to it. Thinking this might be a way out, he hurriedly started to climb it. Getting to the top and frantically doing what he could to push up what looked to be a man hole cover as some of the flames started to go up towards his feet. Making for a really warm experience.

**Topside, Little Vibe's Basketball Courts**

Thirteen year old African American Victor "Vic" Stone could be seen sitting on a bench reading a technical manual as he waited to be called up to join the game in case he was needed. Life for young Victor had been one of constant moving around due to his father's work in advanced sciences. Making it hard for him to make new friends as he never knew how long he would even have before moving on. This caused something of a resentment in Victor towards science and started to prefer athletics to it. Though sometimes technical stuff caught his interest and he couldn't help but check it out. Such as the manual on robotics for example. His attention was taken from the manual however when movement from a near by man hole cover made itself known.

Finding himself curious, he put down the manual and went over to it and his eyes widened when he saw fingers pushing it out. Not to mention the fact smoak seemed to be coming from down there too. Quickly leaning down and helping move the man hole covering out of the way, he was greeted by the sight of a frantic and weirdly dressed man as he raced out of the hole just in time as a column of flame came rushing out into the air. "Whoa!" Victor called out in awe of the flames. As that really wasn't something you saw everyday!

This had caused the teenagers playing basketball to come over and look as well after seeing the crazy flames shooting out of nowhere practically. Oliver, who was propped up on an elbow as he panted heavily while looking on in a bit of awe himself at the flames shooting into the sky before they eventually faded away. He was feeling damned glad he had made it out of there in time! That lady so owed him for not telling him about the crap he'd have to deal with in that place! "Lian Yu did NOT prepare me for this kind of crazy." The worn out archer muttered to himself while the players went back to their game shortly afterwards once their curiousity was satisfied.

"Dude! You alright!?" Victor called out as he went over to him.

Oliver looked at him as he hadn't really realized there was anyone else in the area with him. Which did solve the question of how the man hole cover was moved that much more quicker. "Oh… I'm just fine." Which was a complete lie of course but he didn't think the kid would see it as a lie. What with him being a kid and all.

Despite his little belief, the kid looked doubtful at him anyway. "If ya say so man." Victor told him with a shrug.

"You uhh.. You need any help getting up though?"

"Nah… I'm just gonna lay here awhile and think about my choices in life. Like agreeing to things random women in old shops ask me to do." Really, what the Hell was he thinking? Red skinned cannibals? Interrogators in suits that made him realize things? And freakin' Minotaurs that talked!? It was nuts!

"Right, well I'm just gonna go then." And so he did and got himself re-immersed in his technical manual.

Oliver would stay where he was for several more minutes before finally getting to his feet and walking over to the kid who helped him out. "Hey kid." He called out and nicely enough getting his attention despite how absorbed he seemed to be in whatever he was reading.

"Uhh.. Yeah dude?"

"Thanks for helping me out with the man hole cover." The archer told him seriously.

"Hey no problem man."

Oliver grinned and then looked around to see where he was before getting his attention absorbed into the rather energetic basketball game that was going on. Victor noticed that and had a little smile of his own afterwards. "You ever play before?"

His question shook the archer out of his focus on the game before him. "Nah, can't say I have. By the way, what's your name?"

Feeling a little confused by the sudden topic change but going with it anyway. "Name's Victor Stone, what about you?"

"Oliver Queen." Victor's eyes widened at that as the last thing he was expecting was to meet a famous dude like that! Then again, he wasn't expecting said famous dude to come crawling out of a sewer either for that matter so there's that.

"What's a famous dude like you doing down in the sewer in role play gear?" Victor asked him curiously since he hadn't really heard the mutterings about the shop lady.

Rolling his eyes at that cause he was so not wearing role play stuff and in no way was he in a sewer either! But that did have some appeal to him after what he'd been through though. "I'm not, I'm not wearing role play gear, this is real stuff. And I was doing a favor for somebody." Really, its not role play stuff even it does look like it!

"You two must be real tight then if you're wilingly wearing something that's not role play gear." Oh yeah, he was clearly not believing any of what he was hearing!

Oliver winced at that. "Actually… I never even knew this lady until today." A knowing grin was his answer making the archer sigh in response.

"Dude, that's totally a quest kind of thing LARPer's would do! So you don't gots to lie!" Victor told him with that grin still in place, making Oliver actually rub a hand down his face in exasperation.

Victor's way of speaking was another thing he did that his parents didn't like since they felt it was a hit against his intelligence. But until they quit bringing his butt all over the country cause of their jobs, he wasn't gonna exactly care too much about it as he was tired of having to move every damn where every so often. "Yeah… Fine! You caught me! Just don't tell anybody alright?" The kid gave him a look that implied he must be dumber than he looks if he thought nobody was gonna find out about this!

"You do remember you're a famous guy right? Chances are somebody's done snapped a shot of you and threw it online." The sarcasm made Oliver's eyes go wide as he realized just how right this kid was!

"Damnit!" Cursed Oliver as he had one of those 'D'oh!' moments that got a chuckle out of the kid.

 _I need to get back to Xanadu's before more people or even worse the Paparazzi have the opportunity to take pictures of me in this._  But when he thought about it, looking like this and being seen it was more preferable then his walking around drunk out of his mind and acting a fool.

"You know how to get to Christy Street from here? And if you ever need anything, let me know and I'll help out since you helped me out of that hole." Victor wasn't sure what he would ever need from the guy, but he would keep it in mind.

Pointing towards the otherside of the Basketball courts, young Victor told him to go about five blocks til he got to where he needed to go. He also told him he'd keep the offer in mind even if he didn't ever think he would need it. Giving a nod of appreciation, along with a thanks, Oliver was off to see a certain shop lady and then go home. It wouldn't be until a few years later that he and Victor would cross paths again when the kid was in some life changing trouble and looking to cash in that favor to help deal with it.

Running at a decent pace while steadfastly ignoring the looks from those he passed, he cursed the fact over how out of shape he was due to the heavy breathing he was doing that wouldn't have been a problem several months ago.  _Damned Ward and recovery times._

Along the way, he saw a bunch of teenagers doing some crazy stunts that captured his interest and promised himself to come back another time to see what the deal was as he thought it would be something to learn and use out in the field. Plus it was just pretty damn cool. After ten minutes since he had to stop at one point to catch his breath and curse the fact yet again of his being out of shape, he finally made it to Xanadu's shop and went inside. "Hello?" He called out as he looked around for the woman.

"Ah! You've returned successfully then young Archer." Called out the woman as he wound up spinning around again in startled shock and getting frozen again for his trouble.

"You really should work on that my boy." She remarked as she let him go and walked past him to her front desk where the register was.

Looking at her in slight annoyance as she went over to her desk, he followed along and kept himself from saying something rude. As he really wasn't willing to see what else she could do! Deciding to get to the point as he got near her, he untied his bag and handed it over to her. Something that got him a smile as she took it. She then reached under her desk and pulled out a rather large jar, took off the lid and carefully placed the scale inside it before screwing the lid back on tightly and placing it on the large shelf behind her. Oliver's curiousity however got the better of him as he was wondering just what the Hell it was he had risked his neck over. "If you don't mind my asking, just what is that thing? After all, I nearly got killed by a damn Minotaur of all things to get it." And cause of that, he felt he should know!

Xanadu for her part was surprised about hearing of the Minotaur since the last of the race went into hiding to avoid further death some years ago. The fact one was evidently gaurding the scale was interesting. "Hmm, that is surprising to hear as they are all but wiped out in this day and age. And for one to be guarding the scale is rather curious since they don't particularly like doing the work of others." She paced in front of him as she tried to figure out why a Minotaur would even bother when there was likely more important things to worry about.

"Well, he did mention someone named Circe." Oliver commented offhandedly and making the other woman's eyes go wide in surprise.

"Circe!? That traitorous witch has left her island!?" Oh this was bad as that woman was a damned dangerous being and if she was out in the outside world, then something had to have captured her attention. Whatever that was, Xanadu could not be certain.

"I… Guess so?" Oliver replied uncertainly.

Xanadu gave him a smile to make him feel more at eased over the situation and waved off the issue as it was best to not trouble the young Archer's mind. "Ah never you worry my boy, a troubling issue best left for others. Now… As for your question, the scale is the last one in existence that once belonged to the hide of Tiamat herself. She is the mother of all Dragons and at one point went mad to the point that she was forced to be killed in order to protect of all Mankind from her rage. There is power to be found in the scale and it falling into wrong hands would not be the best of ideas. For they could destroy or enslave whatever they wished." Dragons? This was getting to be WAY too much for the former castaway!

The long lived woman gave him another smile once she saw the disbelief in his features. "Yes, I suppose disbelief would be the hour of the day even in light of what you likely experienced on your quest." Ain't that the damn truth?

Clapping her hands suddenly, the woman went over to a cabinet and opened its door to look for something. "Now on to your reward young Archer, I know you probably care not for it but it is the least I can do." He wasn't sure what could be in that thing and he was just more interested in going home and attempting to forget about this entire day as it is anyway.

Turning around with a small corked bottle that had some kind of blue substance in it with a smile on her face, she walked over to him and handed it over. Taking it from her while wondering what it could be, he held it up high to get a good look at it. "What is this exactly?"

"A potion that heals." Xanadu told him simply, knowing it would get his attention immedately.

Giving her a look as if to ask if she was serious, she only nodded at that and Oliver looked back to the little bottle before taking the cork off. Despite the fact it was really stupid to do as for all the archer knew it could be poison. "Bottoms up." He muttered and drank the blue substance all in one go.

Shuddering too as it tasted horribly! Something the long lived woman had tried to do something about over the years but so far had not been successful. Oliver was about to say how he wasn't feeling anything when he doubled over while clutching his armored shoulder as a crap load of pain started to course through him. It was enough to make him go to his knees too as he dropped the bottle, causing it to shatter. "ARGH!" The Queen Scion bellowed out painfully. And then, as if it never even happened, the pain was gone.

Getting up while panting from the experience, Oliver fixed her with a glare that got no reaction. "The HELL was that!?" He demanded to know.

Arching an eyebrow at him, Xanadu told him that was merely the healing properties at work. And that since it seemed to affect his shoulder the most, that was obviously where it was needed in order to do its work. Looking doubtful until he realized that he did in fat no longer feel that slight tingling sensation that was around a lot of the time, he pulled off the shoulder protection and placed it in an empty spot on a nearby table before doing some rotations on his right shoulder a few times. And to his complete surprise and joy, there was no pain to be felt!  _Incredible!_ He thought happily as this meant he no longer would need to take pain medications for it!

It made him wonder though that if this worked on his shoulder, then could it work on his more mental issues? Something he found himself asking moments later. "No my dear Archer, it only affects the body not the mind. Unless the mind was poisoned or being possessed then there is nothing that would help. I truly am sorry, but that is a task you yourself must continue to face until victory is assured on your part." She informed him gently, making him deflate a little over the minor hope he had gotten. But this was still at least one thing to be happy about.

Letting out a sigh but thankful despite the negative answer he had, he extended his hand towards her so that they could shake hands as a gesture of good will. "Despite what happened today, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart." His sincere words made her quite happy to have been able to help him.

Grabbing his forearm firmly and surprising him in the process but going along with it anyway as they shook one another's forearms. "This is an older form of the handshake gesture that was often used between warriors and other various types before it was modernized to the version you see today." The shop keeper informed him and he had to admit he rather liked it over the version he grew up with and would try to use it more often.

"I'm gonna start using this more." Oliver said as they let go of one another's forearms. Xanadu nodded in approval of that.

Before either of the two could say more, a white little fluffball on four legs came running up to them while barking excitedly. Making Xanadu shake her head in fond exasperation at the spirited little fella while Oliver's eyebrows rose up a bit at what he was seeing. Getting a good look at the little fella, the archer realized it was an Alaskan Husky and picked him up after it started pulling on his pant leg. Xanadu watched on with interest and a fond smile on her face. "Oh Lupus, you silly little boy." She spoke up with fondness in her voice as she rubbed on his little head that the little guy happily enjoyed.

"As you can see, this is an Alaskan Husky, or to be more precise an Alaskan Malamute and he's been with me for some time after an old friend brought him by. And it seems he's taken a quick liking to you. You also need not worry about house training him as I've already done that." And if she was right, the archer had taken a liking to the young pup rather quickly himself. Which was good as the pup needed a proper home, though she would be sad to see him go. Lupus' house training had been a necessity after the little rascal had taken to being a messy little fella once in her care.

Oliver found it a little odd that the woman was calling the puppy by a name that didn't even sound close to being Alaskan. But he could roll with it since he already found the woman to be somewhat on the eccentric side anyway. The fact the little one was already house trained was a bonus for him too. His mom and Raisa would probably have a fit over his bringing a puppy home but he didn't care! Thea and even Akio would probably love the little guy once they saw him. "How much for him?" The former playboy asked curiously as he looked up at the woman while letting little Lupus gnaw on his gloved index finger.

"No charge my boy, no charge at all! Its payment enough for me to know that young Lupus has found himself a proper home. You can even take the outfit and sword with you if you wish." After all, the hood he had on him would be appropriate for him to have considering who it once belonged too long ago. Plus, who knew when that sword just might come in handy again hmm? As it was blessed and because of that had an effect on unholy creatures.

But that would be something she would let him figure out one day when the time was needed for the sword to be used again. Oliver was a little surprised she would let him keep the stuff she gave him along with not wanting money for the little guy in his hands, but he could roll with it. Though he was going to have a heck of a time in explaining the armor and stuff to his family. An idea did come to mind however about why his shoulder was feeling a whole lot better then it had in a long time and would involve calling a certain General he knew.

Xanadu did find herself curious however about the quiver and bow he seemed to have foud in his quest and asked him about it. "Oh this? I found it near by an old skeleton and thought it would come in handy." He hoped he wouldn't get considered a grave robber for that.

"And I have a feeling it did young Archer. May I see the bow?" Curious but willing, Oliver put Lupus down gently before standing back up and taking off the old bow and handing it over to her.

Gently taking it from him, she examined it carefully and gasped when she realized just who it belonged too. Her gasp had the archer a bit curious as well. "This is a momentous find young Archer! I, Myrddin, and Arthur long had wondered what had become of Sir Tristan after his disappearance that had left us all quite vexed. Especially his distraught wife Isolde. If you found it in an area where Circe has some sort of control, this quite possibly means she had something to do with his disappearance those long days ago. Would you permit me to keep Sir Tristan's bow young Archer?" She requested and hoped he would allow her too as this was too important to be let out of her sight again.

Surprised but willing, he didn't mind giving it up as he already had two bows as it is. Although he was pretty curious over this Sir Tristan guy and would look him up later. He also asked if she wanted the quiver and its arrows too. "Thank you young Archer! It does this years old woman good to have something that once belonged to a dear friend! As for the quiver and its arrows, if you are willing I would take those too." Nodding his understanding since he already had plenty of arrows and a quiver as it is, he pulled it off and handed it over to her.

She took it with a pleased smile that made him smile back at seeing the woman so obviously happy. He watched as she sat down the items gently on her desk before she turned back to him again. "You've my thanks once again young Archer." Nimue told him seriously.

"Happy to help." He replied with a nod as he picked up Lupus, who'd been chewing on his shoe strings.

Looking around awkwardly, he felt it was probably time to go and also to make a call. Well two actually since he needed a ride home. "I'll just be uhh.. Yeah." He finished lamely but getting a small smile for it anyway as if she knew what he was meaning.

"Take care young Archer on your journies and remember the experiences of today for they shall help to shape your path to being a hero." That had him giving her a strange look as he didn't ever think he would or could be a hero. But nodded anyway and made his way out after grabbing his shoulder armor.

After he was gone from her store, she spoke aloud while continuing to look at her door that Oliver had just walked out of moments ago. "The task you wished him to do is done good sir and it seems to have done a world of good for him despite having his entire world thrown out from under him again."

A figure seemed to shimmer from out of nowhere and was dressed greyish shoes, khaki pants, a green and white looking rain coat, and a white button up shirt underneath it. "Thank you Lady Nimue, I can rest a little bit easier knowing he's on the right path." The figure who was none other then Robert Queen himself told her solemnly.

Looking back at him with a smile on her face. "It was quite the pleasure gentle spirit and I hope your rest will truly be pleasant. Though considering the task you've set out for your son, true rest is unlikely to happen until he has completely finished it." The father of two had to nod at that as Malcolm had to be stopped and his wrongs, which had been so many thanks to that man would finally be righted through the actions of his son.

Robert's coming to Nimue had led to Oliver's coming to her shop and the task she'd set him out on. The scale had been needed to be recovered and his skills despite certain hang ups would be invaluable in retrieving Tiamat's scale. And luckily for all, he had proven successful. Magic truly worked in wonderfully and mysterious ways and the ancient woman was happy it could still surprise her after so many years of being around it. The recovery of Sir Tristan's bow had been a wonderful surprise as well for the woman and while she was uncertain if her's and the Archer's paths would cross again, she would still look forward to the possibility of it happening again. A shame her goddaughter Zatanna was only recently sixteen as she wouldn't have minded seeing the two find happiness in one another.  _Ah well… Perhaps one day in the future._  She thought with some glee on her face that Robert found amusement in before finally returning to his place in the aterlife.

**Half an Hour Later at the Queen Mansion**

It'd taken around half an hour to get back home after Oliver had his driver make a stop at a pet store to get some supplies for Lupus. His talk with Shrieve hadn't taken long either after he had promised to do some training with his men in a few days. The talk would help sell to his family and friends on how he'd managed to get his shoulder fully healed quicker then what it was supposed too. The two had also taken into account the likelyhood of certain pictures of his appearance now being on the internet and a phone call if it was needed to Shrieve would help sell the lie they concocted. Oliver had been surprised by the fact the older man was aware of things like magic but figured it might have had to do with his being military.

Naturally, Lupus being with him had taken any heat off him for the time being over having not been home sooner. Something he was grateful for and was happy to see that Thea and Akio had taken wonderfully to the little guy just as he did to them. Both his mom and Raisa hadn't been exactly happy about having a pet in the house but once he assured them he was house trained they eased up on his being there. The laughter coming from Thea and Akio had also nicely managed to keep his mom's attention from snapping back to where he'd been for so long, which made him plan to give Lupus a big treat for that later on.

"Buddy! Why didn't ya tell me you were into LARPing!?" Came the jovial voice of Tommy Merlyn and making Oliver groan a little.

Looking towards his friend who had a big smile on his face as he walked up to them, his best friend and brother in all but blood continued on with his line of thinking. "I mean don't get me wrong, the ladies might see you a little differently but its nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Yes, why are you dressed in such a ridiculous outfit anyway Oliver?" His mother asked curiously, making him groan again since this meant her attention wasn't fully captivated by the scene with the kids and the puppy.

While what he wore wouldn't be all that harmful to their image and he hadn't exactly been doing something foolish while in it when he was out and about and apparently acquiring adorable puppies. She still wanted to know anyway as any mother naturally would. "Oh… You know, it was part of a test." Yeah, he figured that would be the best way to start things off with.

Just what sort of test would require him to wear stuff like that Moira didn't know. Tommy however was getting some wild ideas in his head and couldn't wait to tease his best friend over it all. The media and even the internet had named the sight of him in LARP gear as ' **Oliver Queen: From Castaway to LARPing adventurer.** ' The title had sent the Merlyn Scion laughing his butt off and the comments he read, along with other interesting titles and theories only had made him laugh harder. Which was why he hadn't come around much earlier until now.

"A test? What sort of test?" Moira asked suspiciously and Oliver had to keep from rolling his eyes at how she was acting. But here's where it was going to get a little hairy however.

"I was called in for an experimental procedure that would help my shoulder get back to full strength. The test was a part of that to see how well it worked. Surprise!" Ohh damn was that a Hell of a glare!

Moira was not a happy camper one bit and even Tommy was a little gobsmacked his best bud would do this without telling anyone. "YOU DID WHAT!?" She couldn't have heard that right, right? Her son wasn't so foolish as to willingly try some experimental procedure was he? Sure there had been some very unquestionably embarrassing moments from before the Island, but she had thought him to have grown up since his time on that horrid place that included Hong Kong.

Her yell captured the attention of the kids and Raisa. Moira started to pace agitatedly while thinking of the possible scenarios that could happen regarding this little experiment her son got himself involved in without saying a word to her or anyone else. He probably didn't say a word cause he knew he'd get talked out of it! Which of course he would have been! Ohh how she wished she could ground him! Cutting him off wouldn't help since he would likely find ways to provide to avoid having to rely on others for anything. "How could you do something so irresponsible!? I thought you were beyond such things after you came home!" Oliver couldn't help but frown at that while his sister was greatly enjoying the scene in front of her.

"I wasn't being irresponsible! I knew the head guy in charge and he was aware of my condition so he asked me if I was interested and I was. All I have to do in exchange is come around the base and do some training and I don't really have a problem with that since they reached out to me for the trial."

Moira looked at him with a wide eyed expression with anger mixed in. "Well I do have a problem with it! What if there had been serious complications that we might not have known about until it was too late!?" She asked him frantically and hoping he was seeing reason now.

Putting his hands on the sides of her shoulders as he looked right into her eyes. "But there wasn't and there haven't been any complications, I'm sorry I did this without speaking to you about it, but I wanted to surprise you. Part of the training I'm doing will also serve as a way to watch for any possible complications."

His mom wasn't sure if she should fully trust what he was saying but he did sound sincere at least. But her other main issue was whover the man was that got her son involved. As she would really like to have a word with him. "Would it be possible to speak with this man who brought you on for this insanity?" To her pleasure, her son nodded and pulled out his phone to begin the call.

After dialing it, he handed it over to her and she walked away for a little privacy. Leaving Oliver with the rest of the bunch in the front room. All whom had varying looks of shock on their faces at what they had just witnessed and poor Lupus was a bit put out by the fact no one was giving him much attention. Smiling at the puppy, Oliver knelt down and the little guy immediately ran to him. Lupus was also happy about the fact his new owner didn't have those weird hand things on anymore! "Uhh… Ollie? Are we not gonna talk about the crazy thing you did?" Tommy asked, voicing the very question Thea herself was wanting to ask too while Akio didn't really care since he was also giving attention to Lupus again.

Between him and Oliver, a certain puppy was pretty happy! "Nope, I did it, it happened, nothing's wrong, end of story." Thea couldn't believe her ears over how her brother was acting.

"But what about the training? These guys are hardcore with that kind of stuff!"

Oliver snorted as he really didn't think it would be much trouble considering the Hell Slade put him through. And he was honestly looking forward to getting put through his paces as it is anyway. "I'm not worried about it Tommy. Once you get trained by an angry hard ass former ASIS soldier, anything else is a breeze really." He offhandedly informed those still in the room and making them all wonder about that.

"Well where he's then?" Thea asked curiously despite the fact the guy didn't seem like someone she would want to meet!

There wasn't an immediate answer at first but eventually there was. "Dead." Was his short but to the point answer.

"Oh." As really, what else could she say to that!?

The room stayed somewhat silent after that for several more minutes while Tommy felt like strangling his best friend and then getting him a girl or two afterwards cause he obviously needed a little rest and relaxation! Rest and relaxation that his buddy sorely needed after all the crazy crap he's been through.  _Just you wait buddy, some fun with some girls and you'll be back on the fun time path!_ A plan like that is full proof!

Naturally that plan would blow up in his face later on and he'd learn the horrifying truth that his best buddy had no interest in sleeping around with hot chicks anymore. Moira soon came back into the front room and handed her son his phone back. "Just for the record, I still do NOT like this one bit Oliver." If her words didn't tell him that, her unhappy tone certainly did!

At least that Shrieve man seemed to be a good sort, and who knows, perhaps he would be a positive influence on her son? Though she would have words with the man again if he tried to persuade her boy to join the army! And now that his shoulder was all better and would only have to take meds for his PTSD and depression, the archer was happy that he'd be able to get back in action after a good amount of training. Cause a whole lot of people out there needed a damn good beating. And he was the man perfect for the job.

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**Author's Notes: Holy damn did that get longer then I thought it would! I really hope you guys enjoyed this one! Lupus is Latin for Wolf and I thought Nimue naming him that would fit considering where she's from and all. Naturally I decided to make use of mythological and historical figures for my own twists in this and I think it came together rather nicely! And also, for those that may not know just yet, I've put up a poll regarding how Oliver finds out about Moira and Walter being together. So if you haven't yet, be sure to go and vote!**

**Heh, I have this scene in my head of a future encounter with Bathurias that would be fairly amusing. Something I might wind up writing too if there's any interest. Annnd coming up next is either a 2 or 3 month time jump! And with that, R and R!**


	45. Back In Action

**Disclaimer: Here we go with the latest chapter! Oh, and I own nothing but what you see here. And special thanks to Naitch03 for helping me out with an issue regarding the date for this chapter!**

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**October 26th, 2010 Night time in the Glades**

After his shoulder was healed up thanks to Madame Xanadu and getting himself a puppy by the name of Lupus in the bargain. Oliver quickly got to work in getting back in shape for the next three months, even going through on his promise to General Shrieve and getting training in various things from him and his men. Training that at one point took him to Coast City with the General to learn how to pilot a plane from the best pilot around, one Hal Jordan who often piloted aircrafft for Ferris Air. He, Hal, and Carol Ferris all grew pretty close to one another during his trips there. To the point that Carol had developed more than a friendly interest in him but he wound up gently rejected her as he was still in no condition mentally to be dating anyone. Something she thankfully understood but told him she was more than willing to wait for the time he was ready. That, and he could tell just how interested Hal was and had no desire to cause problems over it.

Oliver also got back into going back to the Wildcat Gym when he was able too and it also helped a great deal in getting him back into shape. He also spent a little time in trying to get Grant to go back out on the field again but so far had had no luck. Thea also started seeing Dr. Veller as well after Oliver had a good long talk with his mom who thankfully managed to see his point of view but wasn't all that enthusiastic when he suggested that she too see the man. The visits with the doctor proved very beneficial, not only for Oliver's sanity but for the girl as well.

It had helped her in seeing that some of her actions towards him weren't helping at all, but so long as she wasn't going overboard or malicious it wouldn't be a bad thing. The therapist also helped the girl to realize that her big brother had to come to her or anyone else in his own time after she had told him the story about making Ollie talk about a few unpleasant things the day he got home from the Ward. And if there was something he didn't want to talk about, it was best to leave alone. Thea had trouble accepting it as she was of the belief that just talking about everything would help him get better, but with Veller's help she would come to learn it would probably do the exact opposite.

Veller and Anna to an extent had also helped the girl in getting past a few anger issues she had over feeling abandoned by her brother, father, and her mother since the woman for the longest time had hidden herself away to deal with her own mourning and leaving the girl on her own. That actually led to a huge argument between mother and daughter when the girl had decided to confront her about that particular issue after they got home from the session. An argument that later helped Moira realize just how badly she had done her daughter by leaving her on her own. After that, Moira started to see the man as well in addition to her children doing so.

Tommy and Laurel had also hit another snag in their whatever it was they had between the two of them as she hadn't been a huge fan of his idea in getting Ollie to relax. As even with her own issues regarding him and the tentative truce between her and Ollie, she could clearly see that some random girl to sleep with wasn't going to help him any. But Tommy didn't listen and it ended badly for him when Oliver rejected the two girls the Merlyn Scion had gotten him. Leading to an argument between the two brothers in all but blood about how Tommy needed to think his ideas through a lot better. Something the other man didn't really take too well and the two didn't talk for a few days after that.

Oliver also finally re-gained his driver's license too now that he didn't have his shoulder to worry about and proved he could drive without his mental issues being a problem. This proved to be a huge help whenever he wanted to get somewhere on his own and not have to rely on a family driver or one of the Diggles to do it. The Yamashiros also wound up deciding to stay permanently in Starling even after the issues they had in Japan were thankfully cleared up and now had their own home across the street from Andy and Carly Diggle. The archer had been insanely happy over that news and Akio had even told him he kept bugging his parents about staying in Starling until they gave in. Lupus was also a big fan of the decision since he had gotten rather attached to Akio and Akio to him in return. Much like the adorable little fella had done with Oliver, Thea, Walter, and even A.J. to an extent.

With Lupus around, he proved to be a great support to Thea and Oliver when they needed it at various times. Especially if it happened to be after a therapy session for either of them. The little guy also wound up sleeping on the siblings' beds on random until he somehow ruined Thea's entire stash of drugs. Drugs she hadn't really been using since things had generally been improving in her life and hadn't really felt the need to escape life with the drugs. She did prefer to use it for recreational use from time to time but even that was a rare thing. Moira had wound up grounding her daughter for a week after that incident with Lupus and Oliver used his own method of punishment on her that pretty much ensured she wouldn't bring drugs back into the house again.

What method was that you ask? Why none other then the Water Bowl Slapping of course. Something he had her do for three to four hours a day during the week she was grounded. Moira hadn't been too sure about it but since it wasn't doing her daughter any harm she let it happen. Walter when he learned of it was amused by the whole thing. Oliver even had let slip the fact that what he had her doing also helped to improve archer skills. Something she'd been skeptical about until he'd gotten her off the large back porch and onto the grounds with her bow that she realized he was telling the truth.

Though he would only ever say he learned about the idea through a friend when she asked him about it. An idea he himself used during his training to get back in shape and had a far greater appreciation for it then what he had the last time. Despite the bittersweet memories it brought him in regards to Shado. The two siblings even had a few archery competitions too and it was something the younger Queen had greatly enjoyed as well. Not to mention their mother as well. The two had even gotten Tommy to hold apples in each hand that they would shoot arrows in to as a means of payback for the two girls he had tried to set Oliver up with.

Needless to say the poor guy felt close to traumatized afterwards, much to the amusement of the siblings! Oliver had also gone back to where he'd seen some teenagers doing some crazy stunts in Little Vibe. Stunts he would wind up learning was called Parkour and got them to even train him in how to do it. And was quite possibly the best thing he ever learned how to do as it proved to be a ton of fun for him. Though he avoided Xanadu's place as he wasn't quite keen on getting pulled into another wildly unbelievable quest. Bad enough the nightmares he occasionally got from that whole experience and he wasn't looking to add more.

Currently, Oliver was out in the Glades searching for where a drug dealer liked to hang out at. Part of the reason he was after the guy other then the drug selling was the fact the dealer was also something of a pervert that liked to go after teenaged girls. Potential scenarios involving things that could happen to Thea had gone through his head when he heard the news report earlier that day and resolved to put an end to the guy himself. That, and he figured it would make for a good first night back out in his gear. So far the archer hadn't been able to find him but he had stopped a few muggings during his search. The sounds of a struggle however soon caught his attention while he'd been looking around the area from a top a building that was only four stories high.

Rushing over quickly to where the sound was coming from on the otherside of the building. What he saw below made his blood boil as he witnessed what looked to be a girl around Thea's age try to fight off some highly un-wanted advances. Firing off an arrow with a rope attached to it at the opposite wall and going down it quickly, he landed with a slight grunt and then activated his voice changer before nocking an arrow at the guy who couldn't take a hint. "Get away from the girl, NOW!" He barked out and instantly catching the man's attention.

"Aww buzz off! I done saw her first!" The disfigured man said with a perverted grin on his face while pulling out a knife.

The looks of him nicely enough matched up with the description he'd heard of from that news report. Which meant his three hour search for the freak was finally over. An arrow to the guy's knife clutching hand was his response and it sent the man to his knees with a scream of pain while the girl watched on fearfully and hoped this guy wasn't about to try something. Walking quickly over to the pervert, Oliver decked him hard in the face to be knocked out. "You alright?" He asked the girl as he turned towards her with a smile of satisfaction on his face. Not that it could be seen since he had the face mask on.

"Y-yeah man, but don't take this the wrong way or nothin' but you aren't gonna try somethin' either right?" She asked him nervously.

Something that made him frown as he looked at the short black haired girl in black clothing and the youngness of her made him think immediately of Thea. "No, of course not. I'm not that kind of a man." He finally told her as seriously and sincerely as he could. Which with the voice changer made it slightly hard to hear that. Not to mention the face mask.

The girl gave him a look however that clearly said she wasn't quite sure to believe him and he didn't think he could blame her. "Yeah? Then what's with the weirdo outfit then? Some kinda weird role play thing?"

 _Its not role play!_  Oliver groused in his head.

"Its not role play. Its to protect my identity when I'm out stopping freaks like that guy." The archer told her with a nod towards the pervert.

"You're wasting your time man, guys like this are a dime a dozen and he just so happened to get on the news is all."

Her words made him frown at that and it helped him to realize just how much hope there may not be in the Glades. Oliver wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to bring hope to the people of the Glades, but he was damn well gonna try to do what he could for them. "I saved you from him and that wasn't a complete waste of time. And I'll gladly stop others like him and consider it time well spent." And he truly meant that too.

She shrugged at him, not quite really believing him. "Yeah if you say so man. Anyway, thanks for savin' my butt." The girl said with a wave as she started to walk away and get far from here.

"Anytime kid and stay safe." He called out and getting a thumb's up as she left the area.

Looking down at the pervert he knocked out, he grabbed the man's leg and started dragging it down the way the girl had come out of. "Hey you!" His call out startled the individual he spoke out towards.

"Uhh…. Me?" The heavy set guy squeaked out nervously.

"Yeah you, you got a phone on you?"

The heavy set guy nodded vigoriously, hoping it would keep him from getting hurt. "Good, call the cops and tell them to come to this location as the pervert their looking for is laid out on the ground." And should be so for a good while after that knock out punch of his.

Well, that and the traces of a knock out mix he had on the arrow tip that had went through his hand and was capable of knocking out a big animal in seconds. The big guy nodded again and quickly pulled out his cell phone to make the call. Satisfied with that, Oliver made his way up a near by wall using ledges to get to the top and then headed in the direction the black haired girl had seemed to go in. And nicely enough, it didn't take him long either to find her again. Deciding he'd keep following her until she made it home was the best solution to him as he didn't want to see anything else happen to the kid. It took about thirty minutes til she got to where she was going after quite a few run ins with various people.

People he wasn't too sure about but withheld further judgement as he was too far away to make a good judgement call. Which made him think that carrying a set of binoculars would be a good idea on further outings in his gear. Coming to a house near where the main part of the city begins and the Glades ends, he saw her go into a house and he quickly made his way down and over to the house. And what he saw inside wasn't all that appealing either as it looked to be a mess with one single individual that looked like she could be the girl's mother in a recliner with beer cans all around it. Oliver didn't want to make assumptions but he hoped this didn't mean things were bad for the kid he'd just saved thirty minutes ago.

The archer watched as carefully out of the way as he could as the young girl attempted to clean up a little before putting a cover over the woman and turning off the lamp and television set before going presumably to her room. The former cast away wasn't sure what he could do about this as it really didn't feel right to him. Sounds of an oncoming car however took him out of his thoughts and he quickly went to the side of the house before he could be seen as it passed on by. Staying there for several more minutes, he finally left the area with a young girl on his mind.

Along his way back to the Foundry, Oliver busted up a few drug deals, stopped a jumping of some poor old man, and most likely broke a few bones. Thankfully those bones weren't his. Once there, he stashed his gear and headed home while considering the possibility of getting a better location to have a base of operations in. Stopping along the way to get himself a snack and a drink before finally arriving at the garage at his house while Oldies music played softly on a station he found. Oliver had considered this a good first night out all around while the young girl who reminded him of Thea was still quite present on his mind.

Making his way towards the door inside the garage that would lead to the rest of the house and throwing away his trash, the sight he was greeted to however upon opening that door was one he was definitely not expecting! After all, how often do you come to the sight of the back of your mom of all people making out with someone!? "MOM!?" He called out stunned, and was even more so when both she and the man pulled apart and she got under the man's arm.

"MR. STEELE!?"

The two caught love birds looked like two deers caught in some headlights! "What… What the Hell is going on here!?" Demanded Oliver even though he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know!

Walter and Moira looked at one another before looking back at him and then back at one another until the British man chose to speak up. "Oliver, your mother and I… We, you see..." He trailed off and looked back at Moira, unsure as to how to tell her son what exactly was going on.

Moira stepped up to her son with a hope inside her that he would understand. "Sweety, Walter and I have been… Have been… Well, we've been seeing one another for some time now." The Queen Matriarch finally got out while wringing her hands together in the hopes he might not flip out.

Gaping at the two in stunned disbelief and causing a tense silence between the three for several minutes. "Yeah… I think I'm just gonna go on to bed. Or… Something." The archer finally said and walked off, leaving his mother and Walter to watch on.

"Oh dear..." Muttered Moira with a shake of the head as Walter hugged her. Neither were sure how things would go from here where Oliver was concerned, but they hoped he would in time come to accept their being together.

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**Author's Notes: And there we go folks! Figured something light for his first night back in action would be a good way to go about it. I had an entirely different idea in mind for how he was going to discover the two of them. But since I doubt either Moira or Walter would be in a pool in a position like that, I went with what you saw here. Hope that was worth the wait and bonus points to whoever guesses correctly on the girl Oliver met in this chapter! And I gotta admit, I am really starting to love Girl Meets World.**

**Which by the way, would any of you be interested in a spin off of this centered mostly on the younger kids with a Boy Meets World vibe? I wouldn't be starting it anytime soon of course but something for future consideration. Let me know your thoughts! Should I possibly put voice changer dialogue in bold? And coming up next? Some of Oliver's training gets put to use when someone out for revenge takes action!**


	46. Revenge Part 1

**Disclaimer: And we are back and I still own nothing but what you see here! And bonus points to those who guessed correctly about the young girl from the previous chapter! Now… Let's roll on!**

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**November 3rd, 2010 Around 4:00 PM at the Mall**

Several days had passed since the night Oliver had wound up discovering a certain secret about his mom and Walter. And he had yet to speak with either of the two as he was having trouble dealing with it. Thea had thankfully been sympathetic to him during the whole mess as she could understand where he was coming from. Walter hadn't made any attempt to speak with him as he understood the young man needed time to process while his mom couldn't quite understand that as she tried to speak with him on several occasions without success. During Halloween, Oliver had originally intended to just stay in for the night and brood over how he could help that Sin girl out when Thea managed to convince him to come out with her for some trick and treating. She had also played dirty with him by reminding him of the fact he'd missed out on previous Halloweens with her and after fixing her with a glare, he gave in and went with her.

Which had turned out to be pretty fun for the both of them even though he didn't bother to dress up for the night. But Thea hadn't really cared as for her it meant she got to enjoy the time she had with him that didn't involve drama of some kind between the two of them or with anyone else. Although when anyone asked him what he was for Halloween, he told them he was a guy who forgot how to shave much to Thea's amusement. The media had had a field day with the pictures and footage they got of the two siblings during Halloween that had a lot of folks gushing over the adorableness of it all. Something that gave Tommy an opportunity to mock them with later until they asked if he wanted to have apples shot out of his hands again. Both had grinned when he quickly shut up after that.

Oliver had been considering speaking with at least Maseo about Sin but was still trying to work out how he could do that without revealing just how he had come to find out about her. He was however thinking it would possibly be a good idea to let him and Tatsu know what he was doing since both knowing would be a help down the line and he didn't think either would have an issue with it since both could kick ass in various ways. Akio knowing however was a bad idea since he was still pretty young and would be likely to blurt out something when he shouldn't. Telling the Diggle brothers however wasn't something he considered as he figured they'd find it harder to accept that he was going around the city as a vigilante who liked to use archery.

And speaking of Thea, the girl had decided to go to the mall after school with a few of her friends to hang out and the like before heading home. And so far she was having a fairly good time, especially enjoying seeing all the cute boys that was there too. A few had even tried their luck with her as well, much to Thea and her friends' delight. She vowed that her brother could never find out as she had no desire to see him chase after boys who showed any interest in her and she them. That time with Shane was enough thank you very much! And after a trip to the bathroom, the young Queen was making her way out of the hallway where the bathrooms were located and on her way back to her friends in the food court. However that wasn't meant to be as she would soon find out.

As an arm made its way around her chest and she felt herself being pulled up against another tightly. "H-hey! This isn't funny!"

"I've a message for your brother." The unknown male responded back as he kept her in place and to her he sounded a bit on the foreign side.

But she wondered what message the guy could have for her brother when it probably should be aimed at their mother instead. One of her friends was looking her way and looked to be ready to head her way to see what was going on. "What… What kind of message?"

"Chien Na Wei doesn't forget." Who? That name didn't sound familiar to the girl at all and before she could say anything, she felt something sharp poke her neck before being pushed away roughly.

But before she could say or do anything else, she suddenly fell to her knees as she felt very weak suddenly and not all that well either. Her skin color was quickly going pale as well and before she knew it, she found herself on her side rather painfully and starting to shake horribly. The girl could faintly hear a scream of her name as she writhed on the floor from the pain and intense burning sensation she was feeling. One of her friends known as Mary pulled Thea to her lap and tried to get a response out of her as tears started to come from not only her eyes, but the rest of their friends as well. "SOMEONE HELP!" Cried out Mary fearfully.

**Hour and a Half Later at the Hospital…**

A highly worried group of friends and family were in the waiting room waiting anxiously on news about one Thea Queen. This group consisted of the girls Thea had been with at the mall, along with her brother, their mother, and Walter. Followed by Tommy and Malcolm Merlyn much to Oliver's confusion but he hadn't said anything yet as he figured the man was just there as support for his mother. Laurel Lance was there as well, along with the Yamashiros and the Diggle family. Detective Lance and his partner Hilton were there too, primarily to get a statement from Thea herself if possible after speaking with her friends earlier on. Tension was high and Oliver was about ready to punch something. Thankfully for him, Laurel's dad hadn't said anything yet that would have caused him to punch the man instead of a wall.

Thankfully for everyone present, Dr. Lamb finally arrived to tell them how Thea was doing. The look on his face however wasn't something any of them liked however. Moira was the first one to him with her hands together as if she were praying against her chest and hope on her face. "Will my daughter be okay!?"

The man wished he had good news for her and she must have realized that as her hands went up to her mouth as tears started to shine in her eyes. Walter had a hand on her shoulder in support while Oliver stood next to the two and just looked right at the doctor as if willing him to continue on already. "I'm afraid that so far we've only been able to make her comfortable as whatever was used on her is unlike anything I've ever seen before. At best guess she maybe has two weeks as the poison seems to be affecting her more slowly now that its settled in her. And if by some miracle she survives, she'll be crippled with health issues."

His news shocked and horrified everyone and Malcolm was more than willing to go find whoever dared to do this Robert's daughter and make them pay most severely. Oliver, the Diggles brothers, and the adult Yamashiros were looking to do the same thing as well. And despite Quentin Lance's feelings towards the Queen family, or least towards Oliver Queen. What was happening to Thea was not something that sit right with him at all. She may have been heading down a bad road but she didn't deserve some crap like this. Tommy was unsure of what to do as this had never been something he ever thought he'd have to deal with. Laurel was silently praying that the outcome of this wouldn't destroy Ollie and his mother. And vowed to do what she could within the limits of the legal system to get justice for Thea.

"Can we see her?" Asked Oliver after several moments of silence as he and everyone else digested what they'd been told.

Dr. Lamb nodded at him. "Yes, but for now just you and your mother only. I should also mention that your sister is currently sedated in order to have what rest is possible while dealing with her current condition." Mother and son nodded their understanding and went into the room where Thea was.

Mother and son came up to the right side of Thea and Oliver grabbed one of her hands and gently squeezed it as Moira wrapped her arms around him and started to cry. "We'll find who did this…. And then Speedy will be okay." He softly told his mom as he continued to look at his little sister. The issue of knowing about his mom and Walter seemed so insignificant now.

**Some Hours Later…**

After staying in the room where his sister rested, Oliver had left a little while later to work out a few of his frustrations before he did something nobody would like at the hospital. The Diggle brothers had gone with him and together the three went to Grant's Wildcat gym to throw a few punches at punching bags. Maseo had decided to go see what information he could find on who would do this to Thea and so far had come up with nothing. The idea of using less pleasant methods hadn't been something he wanted to do since he didn't feel he had the stomach for that kind of thing. Eventually the four men, along with two certain youngsters had re-joined Moira, Walter, Tatsu, Carly, Malcolm, Tommy, and Laurel at the hospital, which had been the scene of a press conference at one point that Walter covered, along with the request that their privacy at this time be respected during this troubling time. Wild theories had naturally been spreading like wildfire on what exactly happened to Thea Queen and none of them had been even close to being right.

Her friends had decided to go home for the time being but with promises to return very soon to support their friend. Lance and Hilton were the last to arrive as they'd been looking into anything they themselves could possibly find out. But like Maseo, they had had very little luck. The two Detectives had arrived at the waiting room at a very odd time as a few of them looked a bit weirded out and disturbed. By what neither of them could figure. "… A hammer would prove handy in preventing escape if you shattered the kneecaps. An arrow too now that I think about it." The two heard Oliver Queen of all people saying, thus revealing why some were quite disturbed.

"Oliver!" Came the stern reprimand from Moira Queen, making him look towards her slightly abashed.

"We will do nothing of the sort to whom ever is responsible for Thea's condition." She firmly told him and everyone else. Making Lance's estimation of her rise up a bit for not wanting to use such brutal moves like that. Obviously the kid needed more time in the Ward if he was thinking of crap like that.

"Instead, we'll merely leave them pennyless and never able to find a job." The mother of two added several seconds later and making everybody gap at her in shock aside from Malcolm who merely had a proud grin on his face.

 _Guess I thought too soon._  Groused Lance in his head.

Oliver gave his mom a full blown smile. "I'm… actually down for that. And then after can I shatter the kneecaps?" Several people took a step back from him as he actually seemed rather excited and hopeful by the prospect.

Moira merely looked at her son and he himself wound up taking a step back from her after the look she gave him. "What? Its not like I'm suggesting a few hours of water being poured down near constantly on the face or electrical shock or anything." He muttered defensively with his arms crossed.

Lance walked over to his daughter with a look on his face and leaned in and started to talk quietly to her. "Yeah… You and him alone anywhere? I don't think so." Laurel gave him an amused look and if he thinks she was going to actually listen to what he said then he had another thimg coming. Besides… She doubted Ollie would actually even do something like that anyway.

 _Waller would be only to happy to hear him be so enthusiastic about torturing someone._  Thought Maseo and was higly glad the woman wasn't here as she'd likely do whatever she could to force Oliver back into her service and make him torture those she needed information from.

"Dude, you're freakin' me out." Tommy told his best pal seriously but all he got in response was an unrepentent shrug from Ollie.

"This is my sister we're talking about here Tommy, your comfort isn't exactly a concern of mine at the moment."

 _Kid's got his priorities straight even if they are a little extreme when it comes to his baby sister._  Hilton thought and he could admire what the Queen kid was threatening to do. If he actually did it on the other hand? Well that'd be a whole other thing for him.

Moira was proud of her son's concern for his sister and everybody else couldn't find it in them to find any fault for his statement. Well Lance maybe but he's not the biggest fan of Oliver anyway. Dr. Lamb soon made an appearance and quickly informed them of Thea's lack of change. The news wasn't all that pleasant to hear but the group remained hopeful that she would pull through. "She's awake for now, but she's unlikely to be that way for long thanks to what we have her on to dull the pain." Oliver and his mother nodded their understanding of that and made their way into Thea's room with the others following closely behind. If only to stand at the door so as not to crowd the room.

Oliver quickly sent a smile towards his baby sister who gave a small smile in return. "Hey Ollie… Mom." She rasped out as the two came to her right side and her big brother grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it gently, something she really appreciated even if the gesture caused a slight pain thanks to whatever it was that's in her.

"About gave me a heart attack Speedy." Oliver joked but the serious tone was there as well.

"Can't… Have that. Still need… To annoy you… For years."

Despite her labored breathing, Oliver had to smile at what enthusiasm and snarkiness he was able to hear from his baby sister. Their mother looked on with tears building in her eyes and a smile on her face at the interactions between her two children. "Well I'm sure you'll be able to annoy him as much as you wish when you're out of here sweetheart."

The two looked towards their mother and Oliver gave her a nod while using a free hand to squeeze her shoulder. "Definitely."

Thea gave them a small smile in appreciation for what they were doing. The pleasant moment between the three was ruined however when Detective Lance decided to start speaking. "Now I hate to ruin this moment between a family, but you think you're okay enough to make a statement for me kid?" The glare he got from mother and son didn't even phase him as he walked in, leaving his partner with the rest as they continued to watch with glares of their own at the man.

"Really Quintin?" Asked Moira archly.

The man held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Hey! You want this scumbag captured and so do I. Guy that's willin' to poison a little girl doesn't sit all that well with me. Hell I'll take the kid out for ice cream to make up for the interruption if she wants." His offer pretty much shocked everybody as it was the last thing any of them were expecting.

"I'll be sure… To take… You up on… That."

Quintin smiled at her and came up to the left side of her bed and looked down at her as she looked up at him. "I'll be waiting for ya."

"Now what can ya tell me?" Quintin asked, decided to get down to business and ignoring yet another mild glare from Moira.

"I… I don't know… Much. He sounded foreign… Had a… Message he wanted… Me to give… To Ollie." She informed him and making Oliver rather confused on the answer.

As there was no way anybody could have found out what he'd been doing while as a vigilante aside from Shrieve and quite possibly Amanda Waller since she liked to try and know everything as a means of ensuring things went a certain way. A way she liked. "A message for me?"

If he was curious, then so was everybody else. Lance wondered why they would target Thea instead of just going after the punk himself. Unless she was meant to be the message to shake him up for whatever reason. Laurel hoped that Ollie hadn't done something foolish and got on the bad side of someone he angered over it. "Yeah… He said… That Chien Na Wei doesn't… Forget." That name alone instantly had Oliver paling and everybody present could see the reaction and it had them wondering what he knew.

Lance looked right at him. "Ya know who that is?" As honestly, that doesn't sound like the kind of person a punk like Oliver Queen would hang around. Sure there was the Yamashiro bunch that had been around recently but they hadn't caused the kind of reaction he saw the punk have towards that name.

Breathing in before letting out a heavy breath, Oliver looked at the man dead in the eye. "Yeah, I do. And she's not someone you want to mess with."

That tidbit had Malcolm's interest for sure and he was also trying to figure out just why that name sounded familiar but so far was coming up with nothing. He'd have to check the List as soon as he could and if the name was on there… Then well… He'd just have to pay a visit to this Chien Na Wei.

"And just why is that Queen? She a lay you wronged so badly she decided to get at ya through your sister?"

His sarcastic snarkyness was definitely not appreciated by anyone present and Malcolm was of half a mind to beat the crap out of him. Oliver gave the man a full on glare before responding. "No. She's the Triad's top assassin."

"WHAT!?" Came the startled response, along with other various responses at what they'd just heard aside from the Yamashiros as they knew full well who Chien Na Wei was. And her being the one behind this was not good at all for anyone.

Laurel came into the room and grabbed her ex by the shoulder to turn him towards her, causing him to see the expression on her face. "Ollie! How do you, how do you even know something like that!?"

Her question was pretty much something that had been on quite a few minds too. The archer was saved from answering when Maseo spoke up. "Chien Na Wei was someone Oliver and I were forced to deal with during our time in Hong Kong."

"And I'm responsible for the time she was in prison." The Queen heir added in.

"You didn't think it would have been important to tell anyone that!?" Laurel asked in shock, surprised that he would keep something like that from everybody.

Her ex looked at her before looking at everyone else before finally settling his gaze on his baby sister who wasn't exactly happy with him if the expression on her face was any indication. "I… Had largely assumed she woulda gone directly at me. Had I known she would do this I woulda told everyone much sooner." He informed his ex heatedly after staring at her again. And Amanda Waller be damned!

The archer wasn't sure what he was going to do about China White but for now, she and the Triad could be put on the back burner as he had something more important to worry about. That being his baby sister's health and an idea had been forming in his head awhile now. But it would be something that would take him away from his sister during a time she would need him the most, but he had to try though. "Next time kid, make DAMN sure you let people know about this kind of thing alright?" Lance told him gruffly, not happy at all and wondering why the Hell he or anyone else in the force in Starling had been informed about an escapee from prison. A highly dangerous escapee at that.

"I'll increase the security force at the mansion to ensure everyone's safety." Andrew informed the Queens and John nodded his head, fully agreeing with the idea.

Laurel had a feeling she knew where this was about to go and the look her father was sending her told her that feeling was right. Malcolm likewise was considering options to keep him and his son safe from the Triad in case they decided to do more then just what they had currently. Of course it was entirely possible this Chien Na Wei woman had acted of her own volition in the hopes her attack would finish off Thea and make the Queen family weak enough for a full on frontal attack. He briefly considered a little mis-direction could help bring her out into the open but it was a risky situation that could cost lives and he wasn't wanting to see that happen. Unless the lives lost were those of his enemy.

"Thea, you trust me right?" Came the out of the blue question from Oliver as he looked right at his sister and got a nod in return.

"Yeah… Why?" She wondered why he would even ask something like that at a time like this.

"I've got an idea, one I think could help save your life."

Thea frowned at him as she was getting the feeling there was more to this then what he was currently saying. "The thing is, I'd need to leave for a few days in order to see this idea through."

"Oliver, what are you saying!? You can't leave at a time like this!" Cried out the mother of two frantically, wondering just what on Earth her boy could be thinking!

The look he gave her was somewhat frightening due to its intensity. "I have too! If I don't we could lose Thea!" And even though the idea of going back to Lian Yu wasn't a happy thought in the slightest, he would do what he had too in order to save his baby sister's life.

His mother looked at him in shock. "Why you!? Why not someone else!?" Surely they could find someone for the task her son had in his mind.

Letting out a sigh as he looked at his baby sister and squeezing her hand gently once again, he then looked towards his mother before giving her an answer. "Because… Because nobody knows the area better than me."

"I need to return to Lian Yu."

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**Author's Notes: I think that's a good place to end this chapter! May this have been worth the wait! And uhh… I don't think that season 4 trailer broke the internet. But I am definitely looking forward to October! Also, as per a request by Dante 101, the title names for each chapter in Possibilities has been added for the earlier chapters.**


	47. Revenge Part 2 The Ride To Lian Yu

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. "Nobody bye-bye?" "Everybody whoop de woo!" Shawn and Cory in Girl Meets World.**

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An explosion of protests erupted from everyone aside from Lance, Hilton, and Malcolm after his declaration of returning to Lian Yu, Thea was staying silent but on the inside she wasn't exactly happy with the idea but was at least willing to hear her big brother's idea. While Malcolm wasn't saying anything, he was curious to see where Oliver was going with the whole thing. Putting up his hands to quiet down the protestors before a nurse came into the room to throw them out if they didn't quiet down, the gesture failed to do anything and Lance had to smirk at the scene. A smirk that quickly left his face after a loud whistling noise erupted and everyone turned to see a nurse with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. "This is a hospital, PLEASE keep your voices down or you WILL be asked to leave." She informed the group sternly and got nods in return.

Oliver could have kissed the woman for that interruption! "Look, I know none of you like this idea but nobody here knows the area better than me." He started while gaining their attention once again.

"What could be on that island that you think could help save Thea's life?" Asked Malcolm curiously and he wondered if whatever it was had marketable potential. Sure, he may be looking to remove the Glades entirely but he was still a businessman as well.

Looking towards his sister rather then at Tommy's father. "There's a special set of herbs there that can pretty much cure almost anything and I think they'll be able to do the same with whatever poison is in Thea." Yao Fei's herbs had been a huge help in a variety of ways during his time on the island and they would continue to be a huge help during his nightly activities as well.

The mention of these herbs had everyone curious. "You know… This could be a huge help for officers if they get poisoned while on the job." Hilton remarked as he thought over the potential uses the kid's herbs.

"I'll bring enough to see if they can be grown here in the states." The archer offered as even he hadn't thought of a possibility like that.

Lance wasn't as enthusiastic about the whole thing as he thought it was just the punk over hyping some island thing that probably wouldn't do jack for anybody. But since he wasn't looking to get on the badside of anybody today he wisely decided to stay silent. "Oliver..." Spoke up Thea softly, catching everyone's attention.

"Yeah Speedy?"

"If you… Think… This will help… Go for it..." She was willing to let him try and even if it didn't work, it would have kept his mind off her for a bit and keep from doing something stupid while she went through this.

Squeezing her hand gently with a nod, he turned back to the group and Moira could see that she wasn't going to win this. "I want you to be as safe as possible out there do you understand me?" She requested firmly and wondered if it would be possible to get someone to go with him just to be on the safe side.

"I will mom and I'll be back as soon as I possibly can." Letting go of his baby sister's hand and giving her something of a hug before kissing her forehead, he stepped away and towards the crowded door that was quickly moving out of the way as they all knew that nothing they could say would help all that much.

"But Ollie, how are you even going to get there as that could take awhile?" Laurel couldn't help but ask that question however.

Looking towards her as he stood in the doorway. "Let's just say I know a few people who can help with that and leave it at that. Not to mention the land mine detector." And with that, he was gone from the room and quickly down the hallway as he started to make some important calls.

The group was confused over that last bit. "What's he need a land mine detector for?" Asked Tommy to the group but the Yamashiros had an idea since Oliver had mentioned to them at one point about the oh so fun of those things being in places you weren't entirely sure of. Laurel, Malcolm, and the Diggles figured it might be a good idea to do a little research on Lian Yu after that remark.

**Six Hours Later At Coast City's Ferris Air**

It'd been a long trip in Oliver's mind to Coast City and to a certain Ferris Air to see about some help in reaching Lian Yu since he knew the place tended to test different kinds of aircraft that were capable of various things. Thankfully those calls he made prior to heading out this way made getting Ferris Air much more quicker as he had a ride waiting on him at the airport to bring him there. Coming to a stop at the front entrance, Oliver got out of the cab and was greeted by the ever beautiful Carol Ferris and her long time friend and test pilot Hal Jordan. "Ollie boy! Good to see ya!" The man said jovially and wrapped an arm around his friend.

Carol refrained from rolling her eyes at her friend's antics. "I would be saying the same if the circumstances for your visit here were more pleasant ones." She said with a sad smile and a hug of her own with Oliver that made Hal sober up as he too wished his pal's visit was on more pleasant circumstances.

"How's the kiddo?" Asked the test pilot as the trio walked into the hanger where a lone soldier was waiting on them with a box containing the detector Oliver was going to need.

The archer sighed as they walked and that was the answer the other two needed as it meant there was no change for the time being. Both hoped this idea of Oliver's was going to work or this whole thing would have been for nothing. The soldier saluted Oliver who only gave a nod in return. "Your request is in the box behind me sir and the General said to tell you he wishes you and your family the best in this trying time."

"Tell him I said thank you." The soldier nodded at that and then he and Hal began to load up the package while Oliver and Carol watched on and neither saying much even though the woman wished she could do or say something that would help him somehow. So she merely settled for grabbing his hand and holding it and was surprised when he squeezed it and didn't let go.

It'd be five minutes before the detector was safely stored on the plane Carol had decided to be allowed to be used to get Oliver to Lian Yu since its experimental design allowed for faster traveling and this would be its first major test and she hoped nothing bad would come of it as that was the last thing he needed right now. Once the detector was stored, the soldier got off and saluted Oliver again before taking off as Hal stepped out. "Right, the do-hickey's loaded and I'll be your pilot for this trip. Please remember to buckle your seats and keep arms and legs out of the way."

His antics actually got a chuckle from Oliver as the man went back into the plane to start it up. The archer soon followed and as he got to the steps he was stopped by Carol's arm on him, making him look back at her. "Be careful please?" She requested with worry on her face.

"My sister's counting on it."

And before he could really stop her, Carol kissed him and he could feel the passion behind it. A kind of passion he hadn't really felt since Shado and he surprisingly found himself a little disappointed when Carol ended the kiss between the two of them. Looking up into his eyes while biting her lower lip, the two stared into one another's eyes for several minutes until Hal called out to the archer that it was time. Nodding at her and not saying much else as her kiss had him thinking about things he'd rather not think about at the time, he walked up the steps and into the plane with some reluctance as Carol watched him.

She herself had been surprised by her forwardness but was glad she did it none the less. She had quickly grown to care about the former castaway and the fact he hadn't pulled away from their kiss told her that maybe, just maybe he was beginning to feel something for her as well despite his not being ready for a relationship due to how things were currently for him. But like she told him before, she was willing to wait on him. Carol watched as the plane came to life and made its way out of the hanger and on to the landing strip before it picked up enough speed to take off. The head of Ferris Air stayed where she was on the strip until she could no longer see the plane and her two friends aboard it. "Safe trip you two and good luck..." She whispered to herself as she began to make her way back inside and saying a prayer for the two men.

**Ten Hours Later**

Shortly after the plane was up in the air, Oliver decided to get what sleep he could until Hal had woken him up several hours later to let him know that they were getting closer to Lian Yu. Which was honestly amazing to him and had him thinking that maybe his family could help back this project as it would make long trips more shorter. Sitting in the co-pilot seat with a yawn, Oliver looked ahead at all the clouds and blue sky and part of him wouldn't have minded some coffee to wake up a bit more faster. "Soo… I know this probably isn't the right time and all for this, but when are you gonna go for it?" Asked Hal out of the blue and confusing the archer in the process.

Turning to him with a confused look on his face, he asked him what he meant by that. "I'm talkin' about you and Carol man." He informed him with a sly smile on his face.

An eye roll came from Oliver that got the test pilot chuckling a bit. "You're right, this isn't the time for that."

Hal scoffed at him. "Keep stallin' and you'll lose her."

The archer knew that and could accept it as he knew he wouldn't entirely lose her thanks to the friendship the two had. "I have too much going on to worry about that right now. Besides, Carol understands where I'm coming from."

"Aww buddy, a woman's loving touch is all ya need!" Hal told him with a chortle as he really did think the guy could use some of that about now. Would make him less moody for one!

Oliver would have responded to that, but the sight of the mountains of Lian Yu coming into view as the clouds were passed made any response die on his tongue and he couldn't help but gulp at the sight of it. He could faintly hear Hal muttering a soft 'wow' at the sight before them. The pilot took a look at his friend and could see the emotions running across his face as he flew around the island once before finally descending towards the beach. The sight of what looked to be a wrecked ship was pretty curious to the pilot but decided not to ask about it due to the fact that just being here was freaking out his buddy quite a bit. Their descent managed to bring Oliver out of his current state with some mild confusion. "I'm not jumping with a parachute?"

"No sir, this baby in addition to its amazing speed can also land and take off from the water." Oliver had to admit that was pretty damn handy and he was definitely going to talk to his mother about backing this project now.

No more was said as the plane began to make its descent and Oliver hoped being back here would go well to some degree. Not only for his sake, but for his sister's as well as she was counting on him.

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**Author's Notes: And we've made land at Lian Yu! How well do you think this may go for our favorite archer? Hopefully I did a fairly nice job with Hal and Carol here as I admit to the fact that my only real exposure to the characters has been the Green Lantern animated series. Which seriously should have been more than one season! Look forward to your thoughts! R and R!**


	48. Revenge Part 3 The Herbs

**Disclaimer: And here we are with the usual I own nothing but what you see here standard disclaimer! Now… Let's get it on!**

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After making a smooth landing near the beach of Lian Yu and ignoring the trashed freighter behind him, Oliver had quickly got out of the plane and got the landmine detector ready for use. Though when he had stared further inland to the place he had frozen up thanks to a sudden onslaught of memories related to the Island and it was ten minutes before Hal was able to snap him out of it. And after some reassurances on his part that Hal didn't need to come, he steeled himself and made his way further into the Island and also being sure to give a nod of respect to the graves of Shado, her father, and his own father as well. So far he had yet to come across any land mines and was thankful for that as it meant that they were likely elsewhere and that no one else had decided to make themselves a base of operations here on Lian Yu just yet.

Which made him grateful for as dealing with what would likely be mercenaries was the last thing he needed to deal with at a time like this. About two hours into his trek to the Fuselage, a rustling behind him caught his attention and made him turn to look at what it was. And to his unhappyness, it turned out be a pretty large Boar with tusks and it was one he recognized too as the damn thing had tried to skewer him a few times during the peace they had before Ivo showed up and ruined it all. Slade had found it to be pretty amusing and wouldn't let him kill it because of that. Judging by the angry squealing it was doing gave Oliver the impression that it remembered him too!

 _Crap, I don't have anything on me that could take this guy out._ He cursed to himself as weapons hadn't exactly been something he thought he would need on a simple recovery task!

The beast started to charge at him and the archer decided the best course of action was to start running in the direction he was going while cursing himself yet again for deciding not to bring his bow and arrows with him or a knife even. He also prayed that he wouldn't wind up stepping on any land mines during his wild little run. Something that eventually brought him to a cliff that had a pretty long drop into a river below. "Well this is just great." The archer muttered to himself annoyed as he heard the angry squeals of the Boar coming his way.

Deciding to go for it with the hope that he wouldn't hit something hard and that maybe somehow the detector would survive the water, he jumped off the cliff with a yell of profanity and it wasn't long before he hit the water with a splash. The sudden impact and the rush of the waters had caused him to lose his grip on the detector as he fought to swim to the surface and then towards the nearest land. The entire thing left him tired by the time he managed to get on to some land and laid there for several minutes to catch his breath. Oliver also got to witness the sight of the very Boar chasing him going down the river as well with some very unhappy squeals.

"Serves you right!" He huffed out with a chuckle as he continued to lay there.

**Some Hours Later…**

By the time the archer finally made it to the Fuselage night had fallen and a slight chill had fallen over the air. Causing him to quickly set up a fire with some helpful assistance of a little moonlight from above. Oliver decided to call it a night as it wasn't safe to travel in the dark without protection, but not before making sure the bags of herbs were still in the storage container he kept them in, alongside his father's notebook which he also planned to take back with him in order to start trying to right his father's wrongs more effectively. A rusty looking knife was also placed with the items as he planned to carry that on him as well in case it was needed. He also found some of the arrows he had been using during his time on the island and decided to bring those back home with him as well.

Seeing the herbs again, alongside the Fuselage had brung back even more memories for him after he had started up the fire and it took nearly all he had not to break down then and there in tears over the weight of it all. Even though he knew that letting it out would probably be for the best but he wasn't sure what that might lead him to doing while on his own and the thought troubled him quite a bit. The archer figured a session with Veller would be a good way to let it all out, or going out and putting arrows into bad people.

"Just like old times… Only without those I care about." He muttered to himself while looking around at what was his home for a good long while. Settling in for the night and doing what he could to keep warm thanks to one of the fur covers Slade with assistane from Shado had made from the hunts, the archer quickly fell asleep as the day's events caught up to him.

**Around Noon**

Once the first rays of light had started to shine on him, Oliver had quickly woken up with a small groan of dis-satisfaction at having been awakened until he remembered where he was. His stomach was also growling and he hoped Hal still had some food on the plane as he had no time to try and hunt for some food when his sister needed him. And once he had woken up and handled some bathroom related business, he quickly grabbed the storage container that he could thankfully hold with one hand and headed out back to the beach but also grabbing a stick to use as a means of detection for land mines as he still wanted to be on the safe side in case anybody had been here recently.

It wasn't until noon that he finally made it to the beach and thankfully without incident this time either. Though this time before getting to it, he paid a few minutes of respect towards Shado, Yao Fei, and his father instead of a nod of respect like the day before. The sight before him on the beach was a welcome one as he saw Hal doing a little cooking and the smell of it made his mouth water and it didn't take the cook long to notice that he wasn't alone either. "Hey buddy! Was startin' to get worried about ya!" As he honestly hadn't expected for Oliver to take as long as he did and hoped it wasn't cause of the memories that were rooted here.

"Yeah, sorry about that. A Boar happened and by the time I got to the Fuselage it was dark out." Setting the storage container down gently, he grabbed up some of the bacon that had already been cooked and ate it hungrily as Hal watched on without protest since he had been planning to make plenty anyway.

"A Boar huh? Now that sounds like a good story to hear!" And probably get a good belly aching laugh out of it too!

But then he realized that the land mind detector was missing unless he somehow managed to stick it inside that box he had brought back with him? "Hey uhh question… Where's that detector you had with ya?"

"Lost in… River… After getting chased… Mmm… By that Boar." Oliver told him in between bites of the delicious stomach filling bacon! And in a weird way, it made him think of that Boar too as if he was eating bacon made from him. The thought was a pleasant one to think about for him after all the crap that thing put him through! It also explained why there was a particular smell surrounding his friend too.

 _Oh yeah,_ Thought Hal to himself.  _This is a story I really gotta hear!_  Maybe have Carol listen in on it too as he knew she would get a good laugh from it as well. The idea was enough to make him smile.

"Right, so while you're fillin' that belly of yours I'll just load this baby up." Getting a grunt of approval from the fast eating archer, he set off to do just that.

After securing it properly, Hal's attention was captured by something in the water. Finding himself curious, he reached down and pulled out a black and orange mask that was burnt around the edges and he wondered if Oliver knew something about it. Wringing it out, he brought it over to his still happily eating friend and asked him about it. The sight of Oliver freezing at the sight of the mask bothered him and he was about to remove it from the man's field of vision before it was gently taken from him. "This… Belonged to someone I used to know." Someone he saw as a brother and mentor until Ivo and the Mirakuru happened to him.

Sensing it was a sensitive subject, Hal didn't ask anything else about it and was soon surprised when the other man got up abruptly, dropped the mask on to the ground, and stalked over to a near by fallen stump and picked it up and carried it a short distance away. Pressing it into the rocky ground, he twisted it until he had a good idea it was firmly in place. Oliver then walked back to where he had dropped the mask, picked it up, and walked back towards the implanted stump but not before Hal had seen a fairly blank look on his friend's face. After putting the mask on the stump, the archer stared it for several minutes and felt like something was missing until he realized what that was.

Heading quickly to the plane, he got in and quickly located where Hal had put the storage container and quickly got inside of it to pull an arrow out. He quickly made his way back to the masked stump and shoved the arrow into an eye socket with a grunt as Hal watched it all with a concerned look on his face. Oliver stood up straight afterwards and stared at his handiwork for several minutes and had a thought that this would be one way to honor Slade's memory. Not to mention the sight of this could serve as a warning for those arriving here that this Island is a dangerous place to be on.

Hal was about to say something after nearly ten minutes of silence as his friend stared at his handiwork until Oliver himself spoke up. "Let's get out of here." He softly said but the pilot was still thankfully able to hear him.

He nodded and soon they were packed up and firing up the engines for the plane. And it wasn't long before the two were off in silence aside from the sounds of the plane and back home to where one Thea Queen awaited her brother's return with what would hopefully cure her current condition.

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**Author's Notes: And here we are folks! Hope this will have been worth the wait and possibly not that over the top due to the Boar incident. I also have to say that near month long foot pain is a huge pain in the ass. Up next, the duo make their way home but will it be that easy? Find out next time on that same LycoX channel! R and R!**


	49. Revenge Part 4 Trouble In The Air

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. And an apology to all of you here on A03 for not updating this more sooner. I am thinking that there may be at the least ten more chapters before I end this story. But a sequel will happen and I'm thinking 'Year One' may be an appropriate title for it. Though it will be awhile before I start on that as I am wanting to concentrate on other things for a bit with stories. I never expected to have taken this story this far and that it happened is a pretty great thing. So huge thanks to everyone for the support! Now… Let's get it on!**

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It was nearly two hours from noon by the time Oliver and Hal started to get closer to Starling City since the archer had decided it was better to immediately fly that way instead of stopping in Coast City and then going from there to home. Thankfully the experimental plane could handle that thanks to the specialized fueling system that included a storage container and Hal was already quite happily willing to tell Carol to start including that in all future Ferris made aircraft. Oliver at one point had opted to sleep most of the way there until Hal had woken him when they were a state away from Seattle. Which had allowed him to call up his mom shortly after waking up to find out how his sister was doing. Unfortunately she wasn't improving but she at least thankfully wasn't getting any worse so Oliver had to take what he could get where that whole situation was concerned.

"Alright, thanks mom. I should be at the hospital fairly soon. Love you." And then he hung up with a sigh.

Hal looked over at him. "No good news huh?" Which was a pity as his friend could use some real good news about now.

"No, but once the herbs enter her system things should get a whole lot better." Oliver said with a shake of the head and trying to keep from hoping too much.

Hal hoped that for Oliver's sake that those things did like he thought they would or the potential ramifications for him would not be ones he would recover from for a good long while if ever. He was also debating about whether or not to bring up the situation with Carol even though it would take his mind off the troubles with his sister. "Sooo..."

Oliver looked at him for a second before responding while wondering what the other man was about to say. "Yeah?"

"I know I already brought it up once, but I really think you should go for it with Carol."

The archer rolled his eyes at that topic. "And again, this isn't the time for that kind of thing. Besides, I know how you feel about her."

 _Huh, hadn't expected him to notice that._ The Pilot thought to himself.

"Aww man, if you're worried about hurting me don't worry about it. As it is, she's my boss in addition to being a friend and only really sees me as a friend and if she thinks happiness can be found with you then I'm all for it." And he meant that too as years of chasing after Carol had yielded little results for him and it had made him gradually come to realize that she wasn't ever going to see him as more then a friend/employee.

"I'm not right for her with the way things are in my life." The conversation made him think of the kiss Carol had laid on him shortly before he and Hal had left and it made him sigh.

"You might want to let her decide that for herself Ollie boy. Its been my experience that the ladies really don't like it when us men decide things for them." Something he had learned the hard way!

Oliver didn't respond back to that as he was too lost in thought and would be so for quite sometime. Leaving for silence between the two and it was something Hal could understand as he figured that maybe he had finally gotten through to his friend. Even if said topic wasn't exactly one that needed thinking on due to the current problem and heck, maybe he could get the kid sister in on this little love connection after the herbs did their thing!

It wasn't long before the familiar sight of Starling City came into view and Hal grinned widely. "And now coming upon Starling City in all its glory!"

His words managed to shake the archer from his deep thinking and seeing the view of Starling from so high up made him feel relieved that he was one step closer to getting his sister cured. Then going out to find China White and kicking the ever loving crap out of her! However, it seems fate was about to be a little cruel as a strange noise could soon be heard. Making Hal look over to the side window and realize with shock that one of the propellers was smoking. "Oh boy."

Hearing the muttered words made Oliver rather concerned. "What is it?"

"Oh you know, life wanting to screw with us at the last second with engine trouble."

Well that certainly didn't sound good to Oliver!

Grabbing the CB radio talk piece and bringing it up to his mouth and pressing on the button, Hal quickly got to talking in a hurry. "This is Queen's Cure to Starling Air, we're experiencing engine trouble at the moment. I repeat this is the Queen's Cure to Starling Air, we are experiencing engine trouble. Over."

The name for the aircraft made Oliver curious and it was something he'd ask about later when engine problems weren't an issue. Another strange noise could be heard from Oliver's side, causing him to check out things from his window to see smoke coming from a propeller on his side. Turning back to Hal with a grim nod, the pilot huffed and hoped their luck would be with them for this. "When it rains it pours." And then gripped the control stick for the plane to try and keep the now declining plane from going straight into a nose dive.

And it was working somewhat as it left smoke trails behind it as Hal reported that they were having even more engine troubles while Oliver grabbed his control stick to help with the plane. Their rapid descent started to bring buildings more closely and if the archer was seeing right, that they were headed right for a road. "I AM NEVER GETTING ON A PLANE AGAIN!" He roared out as he struggled to keep a grip on the control stick as Hal did the same while flipping a control for the wheels to come down.

Hal started to laugh as the two descended and Oliver was even more worried then what he was before. "You haven't lived until this happens Ollie boy!" Hah, he could do with out this thank you very much!

As they passed between two buildings while screaming quite loudly, the wings on either side of the plane were ripped off and thankfully with the two handling both control sticks they were able to keep from nose diving, though had to endure a lot of bouncing up and down until the wheels broke off. "IF WE LIVE THROUGH THIS, I'M GONNA ASK HER OUT!" Yelled out a frantic Oliver as he hoped like Hell he'd survive this sudden nightmare from Hell!

Hal didn't even need to ask who his friend was referring too but at least this little experience got the man to act! The two let out loud screams as they went sliding on the street loudly with sparks flying everywhere and wrecking various things until thankfully the ride from Hell ended right before it could crash into a wall. The two friends sat in their seats for several minutes, too shocked over having survived their crazy very near death experience to do much else. And then Hal started to laugh boisterously. "Ha ha ha! Now this is something we can walk away from!" Man was he glad Carol had decided to re-inforce the hull of this thing!

Oliver slowly turned to look at him while thinking that the man was certifiably insane. However he wound up laughing a little himself, and it sounded a little crazed too. Unbuckling himself and then getting up, he made his way towards the door to open it up and jumped down since the steps were under the plane and very much crushed after this little experience. Ignoring the growing crowd, the archer got down on his hands and knees and kissed the cement several times as he was happier then he could ever remember to be on land. Hal had quickly followed him, though he stayed inside the plane while poking his head out with a big smile on his face. "Man is Carol gonna kill me." He joked, mostly to himself even though he knew she was likely gonna chew him out big time!

Going back inside to recover the storage crate, he then jumped to the ground with it and set it next to Oliver who was still thanking his lucky stars for having lived through a plane crash. Looking at the growing crowd around him, the pilot gave them all a big beaming smile. "Not to worry folks, I can safely assure you that airplanes are still one of the safest ways to travel." And then gave them all a thumb's up.

Emergency services arrived shortly after that and Hal was quick to inform them that he and his friend were okay if a little shook up. Something that had another slightly crazed sounding laugh come from Oliver that made one police officer doubt Hal's claim. The cop further doubted the claim after Oliver could be heard that he wasn't ever going to be getting on a plane again as it was just tempting fate. Clapping his hands together, Hal addressed the police officer and asked if he could give his friend a ride to the hospital as there was a very important reason for him to be there and the words seemed to snap Oliver out of his state of shock.  _Thea!_  He thought to himself in a moment of panic.

Getting up quickly and grabbing the storage container, he took off but didn't get very far after Hal yelled for him to stop and get a ride there. Oliver walked back over to him amidst the frenzied happenings all around him feeling somewhat embarrassed. It didn't take long to convince the cop to take him to the hospital, especially after telling him why he needed to get there. Oliver went to walk with the cop but stopped and turned around to ask if Hal was coming with him. "Nah, I'm gonna stay here with the plane until it can get hauled out of here. I'll join up with ya later." Oliver nodded at that and as he walked off, Hal's phone started ringing and when he looked at the caller id, the sight of Carol's name made him slightly nervous as he was so not looking forward to what would most likely be a chewing out! But hey, it wasn't his fault in the least so there!

**Thirty Minutes Later at the Hospital**

Oliver rushed quickly to his sister's room while ignoring all the looks his way and the shouts to stop as he didn't have time to deal with all that. Arriving in the hallway where Thea's room is located at, Oliver immediately saw Tommy and Thea's friend Mary coming out of his sister's room. "Hey!" He called out to the two as he made his way too them.

"Dude! You're on the news right now man!" The Merlyn Scion called out cheerfully, even though the sight of the plane doing that was scary as Hell to him. Mary nodded at the older man's words.

"I'll watch it later when Speedy's a lot better."

Tommy nodded at that and was about to say something when a clapping could be heard from behind Oliver. "Surviving a crashing plane Mr. Queen, very impressive indeed." Called out a voice Oliver recognized and it instantly made him pale, something Tommy was quick to notice with some worry.

The archer quickly shoved the storage container into Tommy's hands and told him to get it, himself, and the girl into Thea's room and stay there until otherwise. Sensing that he shouldn't argue, Tommy listened and quickly got himself, the box, and the girl back into Thea's room which also included Moira as she had been in there for several hours now keeping her daughter company. "Tommy? Mary? I thought the two of you were leaving?"

"We were ma'am, but Thea's brother told us to get in here after some other woman started talking to him and pretty much freaking him out." Informed Mary and Tommy nodded at that.

Moira was understandably confused by that and wasn't sure if she should feel angry with her son for choosing now to fool around. "Well I will have to have a word with my son then."

"I really don't think that's a good idea right now Mrs. Queen, this girl had Ollie paling to the point he told us to get in here til otherwise."

A loud thump against the door startled the three and even woke up Thea. "What's… Going on?"

Her mother looked at her with worry. "I'm not sure sweety but I'm sure its nothing too serious." At least she hoped it wasn't serious but would stay inside the room all the same.

Meanwhile on the otherside of the door Oliver Queen and one China White could be seen fighting it out rather intensely. The police had already been called since the security guards had quickly been taken care of by two of China White's men so that they couldn't stop the fight and the inevitable death of one Oliver Queen. "You certainly surprise me as I didn't think a rich boy like yourself could fight so well."

"I'm just full of surprises." Retorted Oliver as he dodged a swing and then went to strike back at her, only for her to block it by quickly moving it out of the way.

"So it would seem my American friend, but your death is going to happen regardless as its been something of I've dreamed of for months." She managed to get in a good blow against his face that sent him staggering back with a grunt.

Rubbing the side of his face where she'd hit him at, he glared at her and then charged straight at her and managed to knock her against a wall rather hard. "I think you need a new dream lady." Like one about how great it is to sleep on a prison bed.

She laughed at him before headbutting him and it did the trick in getting him to let go of her as he staggered back in pain. "I'm quite content with this one, and then I can dream about killing the rest of your family!" And all those who knew him and his family as well!

More blows were traded between the two until China White managed to get him into a headlock. "You know, I could have some fun with you first before killing you. Though I have little doubt you would be very satisfying." Especially when she had been pleased by Ben Turner himself and no other man so far had been able to do the job nearly as good as he's been able too.

"Sorry… But I… Have standards!" The archer managed to get out while she simply smirked at him.

"That's why there's Ventura Mr. Queen, its every girl's dream!" Especially hers!

The mention of that drug gave Oliver even more reason to try and get out of her grip as that was not something he wanted to have happen to him! He even tried elbowing her a few times but she wasn't giving up and was actually taunting him about what all she'd have him do while having him on Ventura and it was downright nasty. "FREEZE!" Called out a voice that Oliver never in his life thought he'd be happy to hear.

And it all came from one Detective Quentin Lance as he and his partner Hilton had their guns out and pointed right at China White. "It appears we have company, I suppose its best to continue this another time then." With a nod to one of her men, a pellet was thrown in between the two fighters and the Detectives and smoke soon blasted out of it, allowing for the white haired Triad asssassin and her two men to make their leave quickly while Oliver and his just in the nick of time saviors coughed up their lungs from all the smoke.

**Ten Minutes Later**

It took around ten minutes for the Hospital staff to cleverly remove the smoke and get Oliver checked out for any injuries before he was able to get down to the important task of using the herbs to cure his sister. Leaving a fairly grumpy Lance as he was wanting a statement from him but all Oliver did was tell him it could wait as he had something more important to do but did helpfuly inform him that the white haired psychopath was the one behind Thea's recent stay in the hospital. Which naturally made the man nearly demand for that statement until Hilton managed to remind him of why it could wait and Lance honestly felt a little ashamed for not thinking about the more important matter.

Once back in Thea's room, Oliver had Tommy hold the storage container while it was opened so that he could ground up a few of the herbs and add some water to it so that Thea could drink it since he figured she'd find it easier to do while those already present watched on with interest and anticipation. The family doctor was naturally against the use of the herbs since it wasn't approved through the normal channels but a combined glare from Oliver and Moira silenced him quite effectively. "Alright Speedy, I need you to drink this for me okay?"

Looking at it curiously and trying to raise her head up until Oliver gently placed a hand under her head to help her with the movement and put the cup to her lips and poured it into her mouth. The girl managed to swallow it and it had a weird taste to her but it wasn't something she was about to give a lot of thought on at the moment. Nothing seemed to happen at first but several minutes later a gasp escaped from her as she started to feel the effects of the poison lessen considerably. Her skin color was also rapidly coming back as well and Moira could be seen with her hands to her mouth with tears gleaming in her eyes as she witnessed the herbs her son brought back work a miracle right before her eyes. "My God." Muttered Quentin aloud from his spot in the room and it was something the doctor and Hilton had to agree with while Oliver couldn't help but grin at the sight before him.

"How you feelin' Speedy?"

Thea looked at him with wonder in her eyes that no longer had a sense of pain within them. "I'm feeling… I'm feeling a lot better!" She cried out happily and Oliver hugged her as tears of his own started to come down his face as he was happy the herbs had done their work as he hoped they would and it wasn't long before Moira got into the hug as well.

Quentin happened to look over at the Merlyn punk for a few seconds and it was all it took for him to ask one simple question. "Are you cryin' kid?" He couldn't help but ask even though he himself was close to shedding a few tears as well over the very happy moment.

Tommy looked at him for a moment with shock on his face. "What? No, what? I just… I just have something in my eye is all." And hurriedly rubbed at one of his eyes and Quentin snorted in slight amusement.

_Queen's done real good with this, I'll admit that much._

**Three Days Later at Big Belly Burger**

It took about three days before Thea was released from the hospital and the Diggle brothers thought an appropriate place to celebrate her release from the place would be at Big Belly Burger. Something Oliver actually liked the idea of and even Lance followed through on his promise of Ice Cream with Thea at the restaurant. The Yamashiros, Raisa, Laurel Lance, Malcolm and Tommy Merlyn, Hilton, Moira and Walter, Carly and A.J. Diggle, Mary and a few other friends of Thea's, and even Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris was in attendance for the celebration as well. However, despite the effects of the herbs, Thea was still somewhat weak and would require a wheel chair to get around until she was back at full strength. Something that annoyed her somewhat but she got why she had to use it.

Hal had actually been wrong about the chewing he thought he was gonna get from Carol over the plane crashing, but all she had really done was express her happiness that he and Oliver had managed to live through such an experience. And thanks to a little maneuvering on Oliver's part, a conversation between Carol, Malcolm, Moira, and Walter was taking place about extra funding for the experimental aircraft at Ferris Air. Especially for the airplane he had been on as well as it was worth backing despite the hick up it had. At one table, the Diggle brothers, Tommy, Hal, Oliver, and Maseo were all sitting at, Tommy was making a remark about how Oliver was going to make a ton of money off those herbs.

"Yeah, I don't really plan to do that. If I'm able to grow them here, I'll happily give them away to the police force and whoever else would like to use them. So long as its responsible use anyway."

The men, especially Tommy looked at him in surprise over that. "Dude, seriously?" The Merlyn Scion figured something like this would bring in extra bank for the Queen family!

Oliver only nodded at him as he wasn't joking around as this could save a lot of lives and that was more important than making money. "Well after hearing about how quickly they worked on Thea, I think its a damn good idea." Said Andy and getting nods of agreement from John and Maseo.

John found himself curious though, and it wasn't over the herbs. "Speaking of the kid, where is she anyway?" That caused the men to look around for her.

"WHEELBOUND BITCHES!" Yelled the very girl they were all looking for and it made them realize that she was outside.

Quickly making their way out there, they saw her and several people in wheelchairs and the sight of those people made Oliver and John groan. It seems Thea had found some new friends in the form of the Wheelbound Gang! Thea rolled over to them with a big smile on her face. "Hey guys! I'm part of a gang now, awesome huh!?"

For Oliver and John, it was as far from awesome as you could get! Bobby Bonson then rolled up to them as well with a big ol' grin on his face with a bb gun in his hands. "Kid, this is for you. Have fun!" And then handed it to Thea who took it happily and then gave her brother a very evil smile.

Oliver found no shame in taking off like a Bat out of Hell while the other men watched with vast amounts of amusement on their faces. And it wouldn't be long before the rest of the group caught wind of it as well. But despite being chased by his bb gun wielding sister, he wouldn't trade this moment for anything else in the world.

**Triad owned Mansion**

Chien Na Wei, also known as China White watched the scene from her computer in her bedroom thanks to one of her men discretely live broadcasting everything to her. And a truly evil smile was on her face as she plotted her next move. One that she knew would take some time to do since Zhishan decided to have her focus on other priorities as a form of punishment after learning of her little operation to try and take out the Queen family. "Soon, revenge WILL be mine." And that would be a promise she would keep no matter what, no matter how far she had to go to fulfill it.

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**Author's Notes: And thus the conclusion to the end of the Revenge arc! Hope you all enjoyed and look forward to your thoughts! Boy fight scenes are kind of hard to do but I think I need a nice job with it. Hopefully the way I handled the topic of Carol was fairly good too but I can understand why it may not seem that way to some. And yay! Flarrow next week! As for what's next? Well I'm thinking Thanksgiving and I can only imagine how much drama there could possibly be with that! R and R!**


	50. Thanksgiving Fun

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Also, cause I can and cause I was inspired by Lademonessa's handling of Ted Grant, I'm mucking about a little with history regarding him. And seriously… Oliver cut his hair and shaved when he came back to the island? There's just absolutely no way he had some long hair growth and a beard when he was picked up from there at the beginning of season 1. Way to mess up there Arrow team. Anyways… On with the show!**

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**November 24th, 2010 at Big Belly Burger**

Several weeks had passed since the poisoning incident with Thea caused by one of China White's men that required Oliver going on a little trip to Lian Yu to gather a few herbs to help save her life. Herbs that thankfully did the job even if it had kept her confined to a wheel chair for a period of time as the poison had left her a bit weak. But it had allowed her to join the Wheelbound Gang, if only really to annoy her big brother more than anything else but she had to admit that she had come to love that bunch due to their tight knit bond with one another. During the weeks that passed, Oliver also kept an eye out on Sin when he had the chance too and still was at a loss as to how he could help her out of the situation she was in with her home life. He also kept trying to find China White but so far had had no luck and not even beating the crap out of a few Triad members helped get him anywhere.

And deciding that he could trust Maseo and Tatsu with what he was doing as mostly he was beginning to realize he couldn't really keep doing this on his own and that he needed an anchor of some point to keep him from possibly falling into a dark pit, he even let them in on the secret of his being a vigilante as he figured with their involvement more could be done to help out against the criminal element. At first both were highly skeptical about the whole thing to the point that Tatsu thought him rather insane for it until he explained what his father had requested and shown her and Maseo the notebook of names. After that, they agreed to sign on but mostly as a means of helping with intel from computers though Maseo did at one point go out into the field into his black and white suit with a brown face mask he found somewhere to help out Oliver in a particulary nasty situation with the Bertinelli Crime Family the archer wound up finding himself in.

Also during this time, while having a training session with Ted Grant, a hard accidental blow to the man's head revealed an interesting fact that even he hadn't been aware of. Said fact being that he had been under a form of selective amnesia for the past twenty years thanks to an encounter with a villainess by the name of Lady Serpent. The woman's attack on him had caused him to forget about a lot of his past but it hadn't been able to take away his passion for boxing or his sense of justice and any attempts to find her so far had failed. The return of his memories also brought him out of the retirement he went on after his partner Isaac Stanzler had killed someone during a case involving a member of the Calebras gang.

While he wasn't as older looking as he was before he lost his memories, Ted figured it must have been an odd side effect caused by Lady Serpent's use of hypnotism against him. But hey, he wasn't going to complain about looking young again! Attempts to find Isaac had also yielded no results and Ted hoped the young man was doing okay. For Oliver, Maseo, and Tatsu, learning that their friend had actually been around since the time of the Great Depression had been a hard thing to wrap their brains around. Oliver was at least happy however that the man was going to train him more and actually join in again on the vigilante life with him.

It was also Ted who pointed out the fact that Thanksgiving was drawing close, much to the surprise of Oliver who hadn't even been thinking much on the holidays til the man mentioned it. This sent him on a course straight to his house and into a conversation with Thea that hadn't been too pleasant since she felt that something like that was just not a good thing to do even with his return since all it would do is bring up memories of happier times when their father was still alive. The archer had tried to argue with her that doing it this year would help bring about new memories and that it wouldn't hurt as much considering he was around and that they had pretty much gained new family members in the form of the Diggles and the Yamashiros but it was a no go with her. Moira had also been pretty much against it as she felt it was in bad taste and that perhaps the next year would be a better time for it.

Walter and Raisa however had thought it was something of a nice idea to try but weren't much in the way of helping getting anything going, much to his annoyance. Saying anything to Laurel was also an extremely bad idea too after Tommy had to be the one to point it out to him and asked him why he was even bothering with the whole thing to begin with. The answer was that Oliver was simply trying to restore at least some form of normalcy with his family and thought this would be the way to do it, even if his attempt was making him forget an important detail or two. An annoyed Thea had even ranted about this to Veller at one point too until he pointed out the possible reasons for why her brother was doing the whole thing and while she felt she understood better somewhat she still didn't like it.

During the time leading up to around now, he also kept his word to Hal during their little near death experience and asked Carol out. Naturally since he'd been out of the dating world for a good while, he felt largely out of his element but thankfully enough she understood his situation and told him once more that she was willing to give him all the time he needed. Something he was honestly grateful for as well. And currently, the man himself, along with Carol, Hal, and the Yamashiros were at Big Belly Burger and the four were listening to Oliver go on a rant about the lack of Thanksgiving cheer that was currently going on at his house to Carly and the Diggle brothers. Both of the brothers were of the opinion that the man needed a good slap to the back of the head but so far had resisted the urge to do so.

John especially could see where the man's family was coming from since he himself wasn't even really in the mood for holiday fun. Something that had put him at slight odds with his brother despite Andy's attempts to understand where he was coming from. "Look, I get where you are comin' from man I do. On one side you want some normalcy and that's related to the holiday. On the other side, your family isn't ready for that kind of thing just yet and you need to find a way to understand that before it gets out of hand. Besides Thanksgiving is tomorrow anyway and if they haven't done anything about it yet chances are they won't." Reasoned John and Oliver had to let out a sigh as he realized that the man was right, even if he didn't like it one bit.

"So I'm basically being an ass then huh?" He was seriously going to need to do some apologizing very soon then!

Carol leaned a bit to squeeze his hand in reassurance while John just nodded at him and Oliver gave her a grateful look in return. "You're welcome to join us at our place if you want Oliver." Came the surprise offer from Carly and Andy had to smile at his wife as it was a good idea. Heck he actually had started to see the man and his family as a part of his family despite the fact they were clients basically but in the end he didn't really give a crap since they weren't the usual type he and his brother had to deal with when it came to rich folk.

Carly also offered the same deal to Hal, Carol, and the Yamashiros, much to their surprise. The woman knew she'd have to do a little extra cooking later tonight but it would be so worth it in her view of things. "We thank you for the offer Carly and while we are not familiar with this holiday, we would be delighted to attend." Answered Tatsu and Maseo just nodded his agreement.

Carol was honestly touched by the offer since the other woman didn't even know her really but agreed to it all the same and even Hal accepted since it would give him a chance to hang out some with Oliver. A thought suddenly came to the pilot's mind as well. "Think of it this way buddy, this situation could be a lot worse as you could be living in that Glades area this city has." A swat to the arm and a glare from Carol to show that that particular thought of his wasn't a well liked one and looking back on it, he realized quickly that what he had said was in poor taste since those people were doing the best they could in order to get by.

It was then that the proverbial light bulb went off in Oliver's head while feeling grateful to Carly for her offer of Thanksgiving at the Diggle home and a big grin appeared on his face. One that was quickly noticed by everyone at the table. "Should we be worried about that grin there buddy?" Joked Hal with a smile of his own.

"Who wants to help me deliver meals to families in the Glades for Thanksgiving?" It was a wild idea but one he thought would be worth it to do and would be one way to boost morale for people there.

Everyone just looked at him with stunned looks on their faces as they definitely weren't expecting that to come from him at all. "I don't think I heard you right." Andy muttered as he made to clean out his left ear and earning chuckles from the others.

"Oh you heard me and its all thanks to Hal here."

"Remind me to keep my mouth shut on occasions like these." A round of laughs erupted from the group that even Oliver was a part of.

"Oliver, this would be a monumental task to perform. Especially when the holiday is tomorrow." Pointed out Maseo.

The archer looked over at him for a few moments before replying. "Then I suggest we get started then."

Everyone could see the determined look on his face and they all realized then and there that there was just going to be no way to talk him out of it. But they did come to the realization that doing this would be a really good thing to do for the people of the Glades. And so plans began and calls were made to ensure this went through. Tommy, the Wheelbound Gang, and Ted even got involved too, though with Tommy, Oliver had wound up using a little black mail he had saved up on his long time best friend involving a cat and Thea wondering why she never saw said cat again when she was eight years old.

**10:00 AM, November 25th, 2010 in the Glades**

In the end, it took over forty kitchens that included Big Belly Burger to get all the meals cooked and ready to be delivered to various homes in the Glades. Said meals were also being delivered in white vans Oliver and Tommy had managed to get a hold of without their respective families finding out about it. There was several vans in each entrance to the Glades ready to start their deliveries and it wasn't until Oliver gave the go ahead that they started. One thing to note is that Oliver's route actually led straight to Sin's place and she was among the first in his route to receive her meal. Something she was honestly confused about until he told her it was Thanksgiving and that everybody deserved a good meal on a day like this. He also let her know that anytime she wanted a good meal or two to come by the Big Belly Burger and just put anything she wanted on his tab. Something that greatly confused her even more but didn't push the issue as she figured that maybe somewhere down the line she could get the chance to ask him about it.

By the time every delivery had been made, it was 1:30 in the afternoon and pretty much everyone was tired but Oliver had a huge smile on his face as he was proud of what he and the others had done today. Something that the media caught wind of and pretty much everybody outside of the Glades quickly found out about a short time later and both Moira and Malcolm weren't very happy for various reasons. Moira cause her son did all this without even a word of it to her and cause she feared what Malcolm may do about the whole thing. For Malcolm, he wasn't happy cause it meant a morale boost to the Glades and the last thing he wanted to see was the place that took his Rebecca having any kind of happiness there. But at least his son was doing something instead of being lazy so he could at least be okay with that part.

But soon though, him and Oliver would have to have a little talk to explain why doing anything positive in the Glades could not be done. But he knew Moira would not be happy about that at all but it wasn't something he had to discuss with her since he had the power over her and not the other way around. Quentin didn't exactly have a high opinion of what Queen had done and simply though of it as a publicity stunt of some kind while Laurel wasn't entirely sure what to think. But the genuine smiles she could see on both Ollie and Tommy's faces from the news report was something especially nice to see though. Raisa was just happy that Mr. Oliver and his best friend were doing something so nice for others as she always knew those two were truly good boys at heart.

And later during the evening at Carly and Andy's home, Oliver, Hal, Carol, Tommy, Ted, the Yamashiros, John Diggle, a few of the Wheelbound members, and even a few of the people who helped them make the deliveries who didn't have much family of their own all gathered together to celebrate Thanksgiving. For Oliver Queen, former castaway, this was a day that he felt had been one of the greatest in his life from both before and after Lian Yu. Though there was a tiny pang of regret that Sara, Shado, Yao Fei, his own father, his mother, his sister, and even Slade weren't here for this. But hoped that maybe next year his mom and sister would be more willing to be involved.

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**Author's Notes: Probably the most lighthearted thing I've written in awhile but hope you all enjoyed! Can you imagine how Christmas would likely go? And now to hit the hay after getting this uploaded! Also, Lady Serpent is an actual character I came across in some research related to villains with hypnotic abilities and is in the public domain. Up next? Its about to be a dark time for Oliver as China White makes her return and what she does will not be pleasant. R and R!**


	51. Darkening Of The Soul

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Warning, this chapter is NOT going to be a very pleasant one due to what Chien Na Wei intends to do to Oliver himself. Apologies in advance if what happens makes you uncomfortable.**

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**November 30th, 2010 at the Queen Mansion in Oliver's room, 4:15 PM**

Things had been quiet nicely enough in the past few days since Thanksgiving and Oliver was enjoying it, though a part of him was worried that it wasn't going to last for much longer. Course if anyone knew about that they would probably just tell him he was being paranoid but he would have to disagree as he had some experience with this sort of thing. Hell, him, Shado, and Slade thought they had gained peace after dealing with Fyers and look at what happened there. So he decided to hide out in his room for the day and try to avoid coming out unless absolutely necessary until tomorrow as he figured it might make any bad vibes pass him by and go elsewhere. Yes, he realized he was likely being ridiculous but he didn't care as he didn't want the nice and quiet to end just yet.

The archer had also been using the time to try and catch up a little on a few of the things he'd missed out on after being stranded on Lian Yu and later stuck in Hong Kong. Which offered little in the way of being able to enjoy some TV and what not since cable and sattelite hadn't been high priorities. He wondered though if he was better off without television since a lot of it seemed to be focusing more on reality shows as time went on. And reality wasn't something he wanted to see more of thank you very much. A knock on the door got his attention however and was a little thankful for it since he'd yet to find anything worth watching. "Come in!"

His knocker turned out to be the lovely Raisa who smiled at him once she saw him and he returned it in kind. Getting up, he hugged her on a random impulse, much to her surprise but was quick to hug him back. "What was that for Mr. Oliver?" The woman asked after they pulled away from the hug.

He just shrugged at her with that smile on his face. "Felt like it." Well, she could accept that as it was nice to be hugged randomly!

It was then that he noticed the white envelope in her hands. "What'cha got there?"

She looked down at it for a moment before looking back up at him. "Oh! Its for you actually." Informed the long time maid of the Queen family as she handed it over to him.

Finding himself curious and hoping it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass, he gently took it from her hand. "Thank you Raisa." He told her politely and got a beaming smile from her.

"Quite welcome Mr. Oliver." And with that, she left feeling rather happy.

Frowning to himself after she left, Oliver looked at the envelope for a minute before finally opening it and pulling out a piece of paper. Unfolding it and reading the contents quickly made him regret it. _Yep, I just screwed myself._

**Dear Mr. Queen,**

**Kudos for saving your little sister from my soldier's attack on her.**

**But my vengeance against you has not been satisfied just yet. If**

**you do not wish for further attacks to occur against your family**

**and friends, you will meet me at the old Weisinger building in**

**the Glades tonight. And if you are smart, you will come alone.**

**Chien Na Wei**

Her words made his blood boil as he balled the letter up and threw it away from him. If she wanted to meet, then fine by him as it meant he could put an arrow into her heart and end things with her once and for all. Getting on his socks and steel toed boots, he then grabbed his wallet and keys and headed out the door with the Foundry firmly in mind as he wanted to get his archery equipment as he figured a little long range would do the trick.

**The Glades at the old Weisinger building around 5:50 PM**

Oliver had quickly made his way here on foot while ensuring he wasn't easily seen by sticking to alleyways since he had his bow and quiver on him and the burning desire to end China White's life had yet to go away and instead continued to build until it seemed to be practically roaring in his ears. Coming upon the building she'd told him to arrive at, he realized fairly quickly that the door was the only thing different about the outward appearance and figured that if this was a trap then it was a pretty good one if she was letting him just waltz right on in. Ignoring the obvious thing to go around back due to his desire to kill the white haired woman, Oliver came on inside and closed the door quietly so as not to let anyone know he was here.

Nocking an arrow so that he could fire it at a moment's notice, he made his way through the building as quietly as he could since he wanted to get the drop on her before she could him. "You're rather early Mr. Queen, I like that."

 _Aww damnit._ He really needed to quit giving the universe openings like that.

Looking around for where she may be and not seeing her at all made him growl in annoyance. "Why don't you show yourself so we can get this out of the way? I owe you big time for nearly killing my sister!"

A laugh that sounded cold and somewhat mocking to him filled the air. "A pity it didn't work out as I'd hoped it would. But there's always a next time." A clanging sound could then be heard from the left upper corner and he quickly fired the arrow in hopes it got the bitch.

Unfortunately luck didn't seem to be on his side. "Oh! You missed Mr. Queen! Perhaps you need to work more on your aim?"

That hit a sore point with the archer since his aim had gotten pretty damn god since the first year on the island and he was more than willing to show her that. "Come down here and I'll show you why I don't need to work it." Growled out Oliver and got another laugh in return.

A blow to the back sent the archer stumbling forward before managing to spin around to face whoever just attacked him and had to step to the side as China White came at him with the intent to sock him right in the jaw. Glaring at him, she charged again but met a fist to her face that she just didn't care for at all! The two began to fiercely trade blows with one another and Oliver even used his bow to hit her a few times too until she managed to grab it from him and throw it a good distance away. "Using a bow in a hand to hand fight? How cowardly."

"If it works, it works." Hell he'd happily break the damn thing in half over her head if it meant causing her permanent brain damage!

With a yell, the Triad assassin charged at him and they were back to trading blows again as they moved all around the room. Every punch, every kick, and anything else they thought of trying was done with as much force as possible to ensure maximum damage. Grabbing an arrow out of his quiver, he decided to try and stab her anywhere he could and was met with a pleasant result as it went straight into her left hand, causing her to scream and fall to her knees. Looking down at her while catching his breath, he witnessed her pull the arrow out with a loud grunt as she forced herself not to scream and threw the bloodied arrow away. Thinking that now would be a good time to get in a good solid blow, he went to kick her in the mid-section but suddenly found himself on the floor with a pained grunt after she leg sweeped him.

Jumping on him quickly, she went to work punching the ever loving crap out of his face despite his attempts to block her hits. The archer attempted to grab her injured hand but was out of luck and he endured the hits for several more seconds until he managed to force himself to roll her over and then held her hands down tightly. "Prison or death!" He yelled into her face and was met with a painful headbutt that made him roll off her.

Getting up quickly with a grunt, she looked down at him in disdain. "I'll take neither option you damnedable fool! But I will settle for your death however!"

Though perhaps making him her prisoner for awhile before ending his life would be a much better, pleasant idea and the thought of that was enough to make her smile cruelly. She launched a kick right into his exposed stomach and watched in glee as blood was spat out of his mouth before doubling over. "When I am done with you, I will pay a visit to everyone you know and I will enjoy hearing their screams of pain before ending their lives." It was an empty threat as she had only one plan regarding the bastard in front of her even though it would take several years before she could enact it against him.

China White felt some respect for the man however when he basically forced himself up while holding his stomach and looking at her with pure hate on his face. "I…. DON'T... THINK SO!"

Oliver charged at her with everything he had but got side stepped and as he spun around to try again, he was met with a solid kick to the side of the head that sent him to the ground, out cold. The assassin stood over him triumphantly and the next part of what she was about to do to the poor fool she was going to enjoy greatly! With a nod of her head, two men came forward and picked up her fallen opponent by the arms and legs and took him to a specially prepared room.

**An Hour Later**

After getting her hand seen too and taken care of and getting Mr. Queen nicely prepared, China White grabbed some smelling salts and placed it under his nose and it wasn't long before he woke up with a groan. Upon seeing her once his vision cleared up, he lunged at her with a yell but quickly found himself unable to go very far. "The Hell!?" And to his quickly growing horror, the man realized his hands and feet were tied up and he was very much naked.

"Hmm… Hell for you but Heaven for me." White told him as she found herself once more admiring his form. The scars on him were actually a turn on for her as well.

Oliver was hoping and praying to whoever was listening that his line of thinking about what she was about to do next was very, very wrong. As that would just darken his soul and taint his body and very well likely kill what was growing between him and Carol since this would very likely make him distrust a majority of women for a good long while. Though maybe he'd get lucky and he wouldn't remember a damn thing if she planned to use Vitura on him. Leaning down, he watched as she grabbed a certain part of him and it made him want to puke as she had a smile on her face after licking her lips hungrily while giving him attention down there.

"You and I are going to have a most enjoyable time Mr. Queen." A very enjoyable time indeed.

The archer struggled against his bonds as hard as he could as he had no intention of doing anything but killing her! "Struggle all you like but you will fail to escape." She told him with a smirk on her lips as she let the red robe she was wearing slide off her form.

And were this any other occasion with a girl he was actually interested, he would be highly interested in what she was showing him. Leaning once more to a nearby night stand, she grabbed a syringe that was filled with a fluid and Oliver intensified his attempt to escape. "This my friend is Vitura, though admittedly its a weaker version of the drug that will allow you to keep your memories but still do everything you're told to do."

Oh the time she had put in to ensuring this would work properly and gave him a very cruel smile as she jabbed the needle right into his arm and injected the drug into him. "NOOOOO!" Roared out Oliver angrily and it wasn't long before the effects of the drug took hold on him and he ceased his struggles.

"Mr. Queen? Are you happy to see me?"

"Yes, I am." Came the monotone response from him and Chien Na Wei knew then that he was fully under her control then and there.

Undoing his bonds, she ordered him to stand next to her and she couldn't help but smile once more over what she intended to do. "Make love to me." She commanded of him and soon the two were on their way to the throes of forced passion while on the inside Oliver Queen raged against what was going on.

**Three Hours Later**

China White had to admit to herself that she had fully and truly enjoyed what had gone on between her and Mr. Queen as he in his drugged state of mind made 'love' to her to his absolute best. And the rounds they'd had definitely ensured her plan would be successful. And if not, she could always drug him again with a stronger dosage so that he wouldn't even remember it to ensure success. Hell part of her considered doing it anyway! Once fully dressed, she looked back to his sleeping form before leaving with a smile on her face as she looked most forward to seeing her long term plan come to fruition.

Ten minutes after her departure, Oliver's eyes snapped open and he jumped out of the bed and onto his knees and hands as he started to hurl in tears until he no longer could vomit. Looking up at the ceiling, he howled in rage as the tears continued to pour down his face and made a promise to himself that if he EVER saw that bitch again he would torture her for days before finally killing her! _I will cut pieces of that bitch off and make her eat them! I will make her scream in pain for hours until she no longer can!_

Death would come for her and he would be the one to ensure it or die trying! Information would have to be found on where she possibly was and there would be NO mercy at all for those he went after! Looking around, he spotted his clothes and his quiver that still had arrows in it and forced himself to get up and get the stuff. Once dressed, he left the room and quickly found himself back in the area they had been fighting in before and grabbed his bow and quickly got the Hell out of there but promised to come back later to burn the damn place to the ground.

Three days would pass for Oliver as he had been very invested in locating China White. Going so far as to wear the goggles with deep red lenses, the face mask, and the hood he acquired for use in the field instead of using Yao Fei and Shado's as he went in search of any scum bags who would have information for him that would lead to the Triad and possibly China White herself. He also had acquired a black van to haul those he intended to interrogate back to the Foundry where five of them had truly horrible times as he tortured them ruthlessly for information. Only one of the men he caught even survived the onslaught done to his body and Oliver had later dumped him off at a hospital. Not giving a damn if the man lived or not.

The second day had seen better results after grabbing his third target and causing a lot of property damage that saw several places burnt to the ground considering they were drug dens and one being the place he'd been drugged and forced to do unholy things in. The third poor unfortunate soul of Oliver's wrath informed him that the Triad had been using the area of the docks that Martin Somers owned to conduct business with. After knocking the man out, he dropped him off at a hospital before heading to the place he'd found the man in and went to town on the area. His activities were getting noticed by the news but so far nothing concrete had been discovered about the one responsible.

Though certain invidivuals had a bad feeling that they knew who was behind it all and had tried to find him with little to no luck and none of them had even considered looking below the Foundry for him. Oliver spent half the second night out raising Hell before going back to the basement of the Foundry and attempting to sleep with little results. By the evening of the third day, Oliver Queen was fully prepared to wage war against the Triad at the docks and survivors of it would always refer to him as the 'Red Eyed Hellion' after it.

The first clue Martin Somers had to anything bad about to occur was when an explosion erupted and leaving him a very unhappy man. "Find out what the Hell that was!" He ordered his men and grabbed his gun from his desk drawer and intended to stay right where he was!

Those who tried to stop the archer quickly lost their lives and an explosive arrow saw that Somers was one of those as well who died a painful death. One of the Triad leaders, who'd been over seeing the operation in Chien Na Wei's place would also meet a very painful end after Oliver got done with him since the man had been very unforth coming about the Bitch From Hell's location. However, he did tell Oliver about a few containers that had young girls in it as bargaining tool for his life. Which ultimately failed in the end but thankfully those girls were freed and took off quickly as they could from the area.

Oliver walked away from the area that night as fires burned everywhere while bodies littered the ground and feeling slightly satisfied that he had done the Bitch and her group a blow to their operations. The police and the media would call it one of the worst attacks in the city's history, along with a man hunt to find whoever was responsible. However, because of the attack, it was learned that Somers had been working with the Triad and the confessions of several of the girls who'd nearly been sold into slavery had been equally damning against the now dead man that pretty much ensured nobody would regret his death. After getting out of the area and out of his gear, Oliver went and got drunk as possible.

Something that ensured him a stay in a cell by the next morning after getting into a fight that destroyed a good portion of the bar and sent quite a few to the hospital during the whole thing. The archer awoke with a loud groan as his head was killing him and it took him a few minutes to realize where he was. "Crap." He muttered as he sat up on the cot while rubbing his head.

"Crap indeed Mr. Queen." Came a Hispanic sounding voice that made him look up and see an aging Hispanic man on the other side of the bars that was likely a Detective.

_At least its not Lance..._

Javier Ramosa had been with the SCPD for over thirty years and he'd seen a lot in his time but with the recent events that had transpired and the destroyed bar had been a new one for him since it wasn't every day that just one person was able to pull that off and not get knocked out in the process by somebody else. And the man was not alone as Oliver came to quickly realize and it made him groan again as with the cop was Oliver's mother, his sister, and pretty much everybody else he knew except for the Lances, Hal, and Carol. Which he was at least glad for that and most of them had very unhappy and worried expressions on their faces and seeing Carol right now would not be a great thing for him.

"You mind explaining last night son?" Asked the cop, which was something Moira desperately wished to know herself.

Oliver merely huffed in response and stayed silent for a short period of time until Thea's muttered and broken sounding call out of his name took him from his silence. "When your body and soul are utterly ruined by one person with the ability to rob you of your own free will, alcohol seems like the best choice..."

He sounded so broken and hollow that it instantly had his mom and sister in tears as they and the rest of his friends prayed to God that he wasn't meaning what they were thinking. "What… What did she do to you!?" Cried out Moira and Oliver looked her way with a haunted look in his eyes and not even needing to ask what she knew.

"Why would you go without one of us to back you up Oliver? You had to know it was a horrible idea to do so." Oliver knew Maseo was right while everyone else nodded.

"Because…"

"I thought I would be able to handle her myself. Obviously I was wrong." The tone was bitter and Thea soon ran off, unable to deal with the situation while John Diggle chased after her to ensure she'd be okay.

Malcolm's plans for a private talk with Oliver would have to wait it seemed. But that was okay, as he'd gained a great deal of patience but perhaps he could somehow help the young man gain vengeance upon the woman who'd ruined his body and soul? It'd be something worth looking into, albeit discreetly. The archer looked towards his mother again with a dark expression on his face that made the woman shudder in fear of it. "Mom… If you even think about putting me in the Ward again, I promise I will break out and leave the country and never be found again." He knew it was wrong and likely cruel of him to say it, but Oliver just couldn't care right then.

His mother's response was to run off with tears rapidly coming down her face while Tatsu went after her to provide a little moral support while leaving Ted, Andy, and Maseo behind with the Detective. Walter would have been there but Moira had needed for him to be at the office in her place and Carly was keeping an eye on the boys at Big Belly Burger. Ted stepped up to the bars and spoke to Oliver. "It may not seem like it partner, but we'll all git ya through this and back into da light."

The broken archer said nothing to that as he couldn't possibly see how it would even happen. Once he was released, he'd sometime later go back to the bar and pay for the damages and help fix the place back up since he'd been the one to ruin it. The coming days would be absolute Hell for him but those that knew him would not let him suffer alone.

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**Author's Notes: I'm wondering if I should move the rating up to M now after what's gone down here. The next chapter may be one about sharing the perspectives of some of the group over recent events. The name Weisinger is actually the last name of the creator of Green Arrow as well. Hopefully I won't have lost any readers for this story cause of this chapter but if I do, I understand.**


	52. Perspectives

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. And after the last chapter, I've decided to move the story's rating to M. And now on with the show!**

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**A Week Later**

**The Yamashiros**

For many of the people that knew Oliver Queen, things had been rather uneasy for them since the revelation that the one behind Thea's poisoning had drugged and raped him as a sick means of revenge for his part in getting her thrown in prison. And the Yamashiros were wondering when they too would be attacked by the vile woman and the Triad considering Maseo's own connection in getting her thrown in prison. It had led to a few arguments between Maseo and Tatsu as well due to the fact that the mother wanted to leave the area to avoid potential danger while Maseo refused to do it as running away would not help them at all. That and the likelyhood of being thrown into Waller's service was another thing to worry about as well. Akio had thankfully not been around for those arguments since he tended to hang around with A.J. Diggle a lot.

An offer of a security detail from the Diggle brothers managed to put Tatsu's mind at ease regarding the potential attack. Though she was still fairly uneased when it came to being around Oliver since the man could wind up being a bit hostile towards women, which was rather heart breaking to witness for the woman but she knew it was ten times more heart breaking for Moira and Thea. The archer wasn't drinking as far as she knew but he was at least attempting to keep some distance from his family so as not to hurt them with words or actions. Any attempts by Maseo or any of the men to get him to let out some of his rage had so far failed but they weren't going to give up on him.

Maseo had seen quite a bit of the darkness that humanity had within them thanks to working for Waller and her ARGUS organization but never could he have imagined that one would go to the limits that Chien Na Wei did just to get some measure of revenge. And while the father was worried for the safety of his family, he wasn't about to run as enough running had already been done and he didn't want to subject his son to more of that kind of life. The man prayed that his little boy would NEVER experience the kind of horror that his American friend had gone through thanks to that vile woman and he hoped Oliver would be able to make it past this before it destroyed him in some way.

**Walter**

For Walter Steele, the man was of a troubled mind due to what was going on in the Queen family and was at a loss as to how to help in the matter. The sight of the woman he was growing to love and the young girl he started to view as a daughter in tears and highly unsure of what to do was heart breaking for him. His being there for the two women was something that was appreciated and he knew that was at least something he could do for the two women. Walter had been witness at one point during the week to a rather explosive argument that had seen young Oliver storm off with rage radiating off him and his mother looking on horrified after she had brung up a stay at the Ward to help him recover from the trauma of his recent experience.

The British man had not approved of the young man's beratement of his own mother for daring to suggest the idea after he'd specifically told her not to even try it when he'd still been locked up. The man didn't know what could be done to begin the healing in the latest crisis for the Queen family, but he hoped it would happen sooner rather than later before it was too late.

**Moira**

Moira Dearden Queen was perhaps feeling more heart broken over recent events regarding her son then when she and her daughter had learned of Robert and Oliver's deaths. She had felt that a few days time would allow Oliver to see that a stay in the Ward to deal with the horrible crime that had been done to him would be the viable option but had been utterly crushed to see that she'd been vastly wrong and the embrace from Walter had been a help to her. Advice from Veller and Anna in what to do regarding her beautiful boy had been sought after as well and while she didn't entirely like what she'd been told, the thought of losing her boy because of any actions on her part was enough to drop the idea of a stay in the Ward.

But despite that, she had approached Malcolm about seeing if his Enforcer could do anything about the disgustingly horrid woman who had dared to violate her son's soul and body. The man had been all too happy to comply with her request as the act had sickened him to his core and promised he would let her know of future news regarding the situation. Personally, Moira hoped that the Enforcer would do some truly horrible things to the woman for her actions against Oliver and the mother wasn't sure if she should feel sick with herself for wanting that or to feel justified in in it all. She was however not letting her daughter deal with this alone as she'd had to do when they lost Robert and Oliver. Something Thea had been thankful for since it had been causing her to go down a wrong road.

Moira was thankful when she got her daughter to open up about the experience and promised herself she would do much better by her little girl from now on and felt some hate for herself for failing to be by herside in their time of grief back then. The mother of two didn't know what the future held for her beautiful boy after what had been done to him, but she hoped it would be one filled with light rather then darkness.

**Thea**

Thea Queen was quite simply at a loss for what to do when it came to her big brother. Losing him and their dad had been a horrible experience all in its own and she hadn't exactly handled it too well but to get drugged and raped? How do you even get past that? Much less cope with the knowledge of it? The whole thing made the girl want to do drugs or drink just to not think about it but she knew doing that would not be the right or best thing to do. Her doing any of that would be a huge step back in her progress and if Ollie ever found out she did it, well she didn't think it would go over all that well at all. The support system from her mother, the Diggles, the Yamashiros, Tommy, that Grant guy Ollie somehow knew along with Hal and Carol was also a huge help during this time and it was another reason she didn't want to turn to bad methods to deal with the situation.

As letting them or herself down wasn't something she wanted to do. Neither of the remaining Lances after they had found out had said much but she knew from Tommy that Laurel wasn't sure if she should be feeling happy this happened to Ollie or deeply saddened by it. Frankly Thea didn't want much to do with Laurel after hear that as she'd rather face her brother in another hostile moment from him then deal with her. The hostility from her big brother was another thing that was difficult for not only her to deal with but for her mother and Raisa to some extent as well.

The teenager strongly wished there was something she could do for her brother since he refused to allow his friends to help him get his anger out in a way that was healthy and not down in bottles of alcohol that she knew he was finding some way to get into the mansion. At least they weren't doing anything for Christmas as this definitely wasn't the right kind of time to be doing anything with that.

_I love you Ollie, I just hope and pray we don't lose you to this._

**The Diggles**

For the Diggles, seeing their friend and sort of client Oliver Queen in the state he's currently in thanks to the actions of one person wasn't easy to deal with. The horrors of war had made John more easily able to handle a lot of things but this was something else entirely and he absolutely hated it with every fibre of his being. Any attempts on his or anyone else's parts to get the man to open up and deal with the event in a healthy way had so far failed but none of them were about to give up yet. The vet was grateful for the fact that neither A.J. or Akio knew about what was going on save for the fact that Oliver was in a bad place right now and that they needed to stay away until it got better.

Neither kid had really liked that since they thought he was sort of like the cool uncle/brother of the entire bunch that one might say was becoming like a big family with Oliver at the center of it. Even if the man didn't exactly realize what he was doing. Carly had been confused at first as her husband had been rather morose and then after getting him to talk about what was bothering him, she had gone from confusion to outright horrified. She had wanted to do something for the poor man but Andy had made it clear not to go near him for now due to his hostile nature towards women. But the mother of one promised herself to give him a damn good meal and a big hug when the former castaway was in a better state of mind.

Andy, much like his brother was at something of a loss in what to do that could help his friend and sort of client. He had even briefly thought about throwing a punch his way to see if it would get the man to unload but figured in the end it would likely be a bad idea as that much pent up rage could very well be painful for those it was unleashed on. The father would just have to keep faith that his friend would find a way past this horrible time.

**Hal and Carol**

The Coast City residents had been attempting to deal with what happened to Oliver the best they could. Though Hal often lended a shoulder for Carol to cry on since the day Ollie boy had point blank told her that anything between them was over and not to even bother trying to change his mind. Though she intended to fully fight him on that as she wasn't about to let him deal with that on his own. Hal had to admire her for that and hoped things wouldn't end badly for her. But he knew from personal experience that when Carol was determined about something, not a whole lot could stop her and he hoped that would be the case with this situation too. As while his buddy needed time to deal, he didn't need to be alone for it either.

And maybe, just maybe Carol would be able to help him out with not fearing a woman's touch anymore. Though whether or not Ollie boy feared a woman's touch is another thing entirely but for all he knew it could be playing a part in the whole thing thanks to that vile ass woman. Hal personally wouldn't mind finding that woman and letting a test plane drop on her. Something Carol was in full agreement about after he mentioned it to her and he had no doubt if the rest of Oliver's family and friends knew about the idea they too would be in full support of it.

 _We gotcha back buddy and we'll all be there for you if you'll let us. Hell even if you don't want us too._ Thought Hal to himself as he conducted another flight test.

**The Merlyns**

For Tommy and Malcolm Merlyn, the horrible event that had transpired with Oliver Queen had been weighing heavily on their minds to the point that Tommy got wasted a few times while his father used his resources to track where Chien Na Wei was located at but was so far gaining little success. Which had been seriously annoying the man to no end. Not to mention this considerably set back any plans of Malcolm's to have a little talk with young Oliver to see if whether or not his father had managed to tell him anything before his death. A death he would forever regret causing since Robert had been his best friend but regardless sacrifices had to be made and Robert wasn't willing to do what was necessary in order to properly handle the Glades.

And while he knew he had Moira under his thumb for the time being, the man knew that one day she would do something to get out from under that and part of him looked forward to seeing what she would do. If only to later laugh in her face when whatever it was she did failed horribly.

As for his son, while both he and Tommy didn't tend to think along the same lines the two were doing so without even realizing it where Oliver was concerned. Malcolm had longed to make his son grow up and had been looking into ways to make it happen but this was one path he would NEVER consider doing as even he had a line he wouldn't cross. The businessman knew that no one else in the League would either and if they did and were foolish to return to Nanda Parbat, well… Ra's would soon see them to their end for their actions.

Tommy had never intended to say anything to Laurel about what had happened to Ollie since he knew how she felt about her ex. Which was anywhere from outright hate to feeling concerned for him even though she'd rather not be feeling that way at all. Him telling her what happened had let loose the flood gates just as her father showed up and boy was that a pleasant time to be around for since the Detective thought he had been the cause of it. And even though that man pretty much hated Oliver, even he had been disgusted by the news of what had happened to him.

Any plans Tommy may have had involving several girls to cheer his buddy up weren't going to happen since he was well aware to Ollie's new found aversion to women and getting him drunk wasn't going to help matters either. His lack of ideas had put him at a loss as to how to help his best friend and brother in life and all he could do was hope that something happened that would help Ollie out. He'd even let himself get punched in the face if it would help any despite the fact he was well aware of how hard Ollie could hit.

**The Lances**

Quentin and Laurel Lance were both entirely unsure as to how handle the news they'd learned from Tommy about what had happened to Oliver thanks to one sick twisted woman. Both were just taking it day by day as there wasn't much else they could do. Quentin had long thought he had hated Oliver Queen for taking his little girl on that boat and wouldn't have given a damn what happened to him, even if the punk was on fire. But learning that the punk had been pretty much vandalized in body and soul made the Detective and father realize that even he wouldn't wish that garbage on him. He and his daughter kept quiet since he had a fairly good idea that Moira Queen DIDN'T want that sort of thing getting out and even he wasn't that much of an ass.

The news though had driven him to a night of ill-advised drinking and the scenarios about how it could have been Laurel in that position had not been pleasant and he'd given a drunken prayer to a God he didn't exactly believe in that she would be safe from that kind of experience. The man knew that while he struggled with his own demons concerning the bottle, the loss of his baby girl, his wife leaving him, and what he knew about Queen, Laurel's demons were a bit more than his and he wasn't sure how to help in that area with her but would be there as best as he could be.

Dinah Laurel Lance thought that she pretty much hated Oliver 'Ollie' Queen these days, even if a part of her was happy he wasn't as dead as they all thought he'd been. The few interactions she'd had with him since he came home hadn't been the greatest, though that time at the music store had been somewhat amusing for her. She didn't think the two would ever be on friendly terms but then the part that was happy he wasn't dead wanted to be that way with him. If only to at least to ask her ex about Sara and why they had done what they did. She wasn't naive however to think she wouldn't go off the handle when he told her his reasons but at least if she confronted him about it while not utterly loathing him she thought it might not be as bad.

But she wondered if it would even matter how she reacted considering Ollie of all people had been raped by someone who wanted nothing more then payback and had nearly killed Thea in order to get it. An experience like that would make anything else that happened to him likely pale in comparison. The lawyer wondered how he would ever be able to recover from something like that when it was likely he was still dealing with the time he'd been on an island and apparently forced to stay in Hong Kong that involved kidnapping Tommy. All he probably needed was one more huge hit against him to go completely over the edge and she prayed that if and when it happened nobody would be around for the fall out.

Laurel did think that another stay in the Ward would be the best idea before he went completely off the rails but she had no intention of saying anything about that to anyone.

**Ted Grant**

As Ted 'Wildcat' Grant worked himself to exhaustion at his gym, he considered what all he could do to help Oliver out. As not only was his psyche in danger of snapping but if he went out in the field things could go badly for the wrong person or even himself. The boxer knew the archer had had to have been the one responsible for the Somers owned area of the docks getting blown to Hell but hadn't said anything to him about it yet. One of the main good things about that night was that Somers was dead and his brand of scummyness wasn't gonna be around anymore. Plus the girls the kid had freed during his rampage was another good thing.

The man considered tricking his friend to come here and basically keep on at him until he let the rage out. He knew it would likely kill him but it wouldn't be permanent thanks to that curse of his. Which was something he was grateful for on some occasions. Especially more so now that he thankfully had his memories restored. But he wondered if forcing the issue would even help any or just make an already horrible situation even worse. Grant figured that maybe talking to those therapists the kid talked with couldn't hurt anything but getting either of them to talk to him was another thing entirely.

_Hang on partner, we're gonna git ya through this or I'm hangin' up da gloves fer good._

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**Author's Notes: Hopefully the way I handled this was believable. Especially with only having a week pass by since the event. As for the next chapter, I am leaning towards something involving Shrieve and a job he needs Oliver for despite the current situation or instead of that, having Ted do what he feels he needs to do in order to help Oliver to let out his rage before it erupts in a bad way. I had at one point even thought of doing an idea similar to what Rorschach's Blot did with her Harry Potter series Mr. Black, in which he meets the monks of what I think was Shang Ri-La (however its properly spelled) and stayed with them for awhile as time on the outside remained unaffected by the time he spent inside the area.**

**It would probably be a cheap plot device to do so I may just explore the idea of Oliver visiting Shang Ri-La thanks to Ted's knowledge and spending a few years inside it with time on the outside being un-affected in a what if? One-shot. Also, here's something for you guys. What if the Oliver here (for those familiar with them) wound up getting a hold of a Red Lantern Ring? Anyways… R and R!**


	53. Chong-Mai For The Holidays The Mission Part 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. "I've even asked the Canadians to join us." Zeb Coulter on WWE.**

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**December 19th, 2010 Foundry Basement 12:30 PM**

Oliver had decided to come down to the Foundry's basement for a little alone time after a talk he wound up having with Andy Diggle. While a part of him appreciated the man's effort to give him a motivational speech to help him out to some extent, he still largely didn't want anyone doing anything as he just wanted to be left alone. But Oliver had to admit the man had a point about how he shouldn't let this drag him down as otherwise he may never be able to find happiness or be whole again. It was just hard for him as he'd already been through so much as it is and now what she did to him has just set him back from the progress he'd been making. Something kept him from reaching out for the help he needed despite Veller and Anna's attempts and he had the thought it was likely a pride thing and would have to get past that if he wanted to get better before someone else with good intentions took things into their own hands.

How well that would turn out would be anyone's guess however. But for now, he'd just hole up in the basement where he'd been storing his equipment and decided to make more arrows for future use while Blues music played in the background. So engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't notice he had a visitor in the room with him until the music went off. Stopping in his work, the archer grumbled a few choice cuss words. "I don't know who you are, but you'd better have a damn good reason for being down here." Growled out the archer as he grabbed one of the newly made arrows and turned around to potentially use it on the intruder.

Only to come to a complete stop when he saw General Shrieve standing with his hands behind his back next to the radio. "General!? What… How…?" He was honestly surprised the man knew about this place!

Shrieve smiled at him at first in response. "Waller likes to keep a close eye on you Queen and as I like to keep a close eye on her, that's how I know about this place."

Oliver had to admit that made a lot of sense despite the fact he hated the very idea of Amanda Waller keeping a close eye on him! Which was no doubt to use anything she saw as potential black mail she could use to make him do something she needed from him. "Aunt Phlegm has no respect for privacy." Muttered the archer sourly and Shrieve couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"One day she'll slip up son, and then she'll be going away for a long time to come." Because Lord knows that that woman had gone a bit beyond to make things happen a certain way that shouldn't have been done or even considered. Nearly starting a war with China just to get Chien Na Wei was one of those things that was rather stupid of her.

If Oliver prayed for that idea to happen a lot sooner? Well, he wasn't going to say anything about it! Then again he might anyway just to share how much he hates that damn woman! But he figured the General had to be here for more than just talking about that She-Beast. "Something tells me you aren't here just to talk about her and any spying habits she has."

Shrieve chuckled again and nodded at the archer to show that he was right. "Indeed son, though I'm always available if you want to share how much you hate her." Hell he knew A LOT of people the kid might want to talk too as he'd have a lot in common with them!

The archer had to admit that sounded appealing and would definitely talk to him about that later. Shrieve cleared his throat and decided to get down to the reason for his being here. "Now I'm not sure how much you know about the country of Chong-Mai, but a situation has come up over there that requires some… Quiet intervention on our part. And I was hoping to bring you onboard for the mission."

To say the Queen Scion was floored would be an accurate statement as this had been the last thing he was expecting! And the surprise must have been evident on his face as the older man quickly informed him that a cover story would be provided to his family and friends for why he would be gone for several days that would likely see him missing Christmas altogether. Oliver snorted at that since no one at home was exactly in a Christmas mood as it was anyway. Though he had a feeling his mom wasn't going to be all that happy either way about his being gone while still dealing with what that bitch had done to him. "I'm uhh... I'm not sure I'm cut out for this one sir. I'm still dealing with something horrible and I'd likely be a liability for you out there."

Shrieve looked a bit uncomfortable after Oliver spoke his piece and the archer knew then and there that it was likely Waller's doing that he somehow knew. "Speaking of…. Since Waller's so damn aware of me, why didn't she do anything to stop what happened to me? Or is she that much of a cold hearted bitch? Hell, why didn't you do anything?" His tone wasn't accusatory towards the older man but he was damn curious.

"I'm honestly not sure why she didn't do anything Mr. Queen, that would be something for you to ask her. As for myself? Unfortunately I was on assignment and didn't find out what happened til after I got back. If I could have I would have done something to get your ass out of that mess."

The former castaway could tell the older man was being honest and appreciated it. "Appreciate the thought sir but sorry for the fact you came here for nothing."

"You wouldn't be alone out there as there would be several others you'd be working with. Plus this could be a good way to let off a little steam before you wind up getting fubarred."

Oliver couldn't help but snort at that notion but he had to admit the man did have a point at least. But there was no way in Hell he was going to try and explain this one to his mother! "Ah Hell, why not. What's the worst that could happen besides an international incident?" The man had a pretty good idea of what all could happen thanks to his pre-Island days and after the Island.

 _Hell maybe I'll wind up dead or some kind of snack for somethin' unnatural during this whole thing…_ Thought the Queen Scion with a mental snort.

"Atta boy!"

"You have to make up something to my mother first."

"Aww Hell!" Oliver couldn't help but chuckle for the first time in awhile over that response.

**One Hour Later at the ARGUS Base outside of Starling City**

Surprisingly enough, Shrieve had managed to convince Oliver's mother that he needed the younger man to come with him for a few days of check ups to ensure that the experiment used on him to heal his shoulder was going well. Moira was understandably upset about it but the last thing she wanted for her son was to deal with another potential problem. Plus the fact none of the family was in much of a mood for some holiday cheer kept her from fighting it more then what she likely would have otherwise. Thea was also fairly upset too but she told him he'd better be back in time for New Year's or she'd hunt him down! The good General made sure to inform the girl that her brother should definitely be back before that. Oliver had made sure to give Lupus a little love before leaving though since he had been somewhat neglectful of the little guy lately.

And an hour later saw the Queen Scion in a building he really didn't want to even so much as look at considering its an ARGUS building. And for him, anything ARGUS went all the way back to Waller. The archer quickly met the people Shrieve had been talking about, among those being the guy who had visited with the General back when the Yamashiros were still running from Waller. Oliver finally learned that the guy's name was Warren Griffith and along with him was perhaps one of the weirdest looking people the former playboy had likely ever met. As the man seemed a bit on the slow side and a little childish in how he acted and known simply as Franky. Warren had told him that Franky is the son of two old friends of his who were pretty much retired these days.

Two others with them on the team Oliver was going to be temporarily part of involved a green haired woman by the name of Beatriz da Costa and she wasn't exactly the friendliest either with a quickly made and rather low opinion of the former castaway. Not that he necessarily gave a damn since he wasn't looking to impress anyone. The last member of their team was known as Patrick O'Brian, or Eel as he liked to also be known as. The guy was something of a jokester and liked to wear shades and wore some sort of red suit with a yellow belt. They were all waiting for Shrieve to give them their briefing as the last of the equipment was loaded on to the plane and Oliver hadn't exactly been happy about leaving his own behind but had been promised he'd receive some good equipment for the mission.

Beatriz could be heard muttering about pretty boys and weirdos who didn't belong on this sort of thing and while Oliver could care less about what was being said about him, he could tell that the barbed comment towards Franky was making Warren frown in annoyance but before anything could be said, the good General finally showed up. "Atten-hut!"

Only Beatriz, O'Brian, and Warren had responded to the greeting and it took Oliver a few seconds to think that maybe he should do the same as well and quickly saluted. Franky however was completely obllivious to the whole thing as he was continuing to enjoy playing with his yo yo. Shrieve seemed amused by the sight so the archer figured that he must already be familiar with the guy's antics. After ending the salute and managing to get Franky's attention, the General got started on his briefing for them.

"Our objective in Chong-Mai is located in a base containing a new form of defense that the government there is currently building to effectively keep out all foreigners. However, some believe that they won't just stop there with the defense plan of theirs and could launch attacks on other countries due to their growing distrust of foreigners. Making it imperative that none of you are seen by locals or government officials and if you are seen, they are to be taken out immediately. Understood?"

The group nodded and while Oliver wasn't exactly happy about taking the lives of innocent victims, he would do it if it came down to that but would hope it wouldn't. Satisfied with their responses, the General continued. "Once you've located the target, you are to destroy it and any information about it if you so happen to see any. I will largely be entrusting new comer Green Arrow here to do the job as intelligence sucks that good aim will be highly needed."

Everyone turned to Oliver who was groaning at the name. "Really? You couldn't have thought of something better?"

Shrieve just shrugged at him. "Your arrows are green so it fits."

The archer groaned again while da Costa smirked at him. "Uhh boss? Why exactly does this guy have to be the one to do it?"

"Because Agent O'Brian, carbon rods will need to be used to effectively shut the machine down as our intelligence has informed us that they are the only thing capable of doing so. Plus once that has been achieved, a bomb that will be attached to the carbon rod will explode inside it. We've had three carbon rods specially made for Mr. Queen's use on this mission in addition to the arrows he'll no doubt be using against any opposition."

The shades wearing man gave a thumb's up to show he understood and the General had to roll his eyes at the good natured antics of the man. How Waller had yet to rob him of that the older man did not know. "Hmmph, pretty boy here doesn't even look like he could use a bow."

"I'd be happy to show you just how well I can use it." Retorted Oliver to the green haired woman but she was stopped from saying anything when Shrieve cleared his throat.

"Mission first, squabble later." Informed the man sternly with a look that told the two of them not to challenge him on it.

He then showed them a picture of what it was that Oliver was going to be getting lucky enough to blow up and he had to wonder if he had somehow wound up in a Saturday morning cartoon considering the object was in the form of a partially built robot of all things! _Well…_ _Minotuars, those things I fought,_ _and magic exists so why not this?_

"We expect there to be opposition to deal with and if any you are caught, our government will be forced to deny any knowledge of your being there. Its crap to hear but that's a part of this life."

"They can't be worse than Waller." Grumbled da Costa with her arms crossed.

"Let's hope you don't have to find out agent Fire. Now… Warren here will be the team leader on this mission so you are all to obey him understood?"

He got nods of understanding from the group. "Good, NOW MOVE OUT!" And with a command like that, they were in the plane and soon flying away.

 _Here's to hoping I don't regret doing this._ Thought Oliver as they began their journey.

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**Author's Notes: And here we are! Bonus points to those who recognize the chapter's name along with the names of the characters I've introduced here. How well do you think this is gonna go? R and R!**


	54. Chong-Mai For The Holidays The Arrival Part 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. And here's something I've been wondering on for years. How the hell do writers confuse defiantly for definitely? I've seen that a lot on here and its just always left me baffled cause clearly definitely does not sound like defiantly at all. Erm… Anyways… Now that that's over with, on with the show!**

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**December 20th, 2010, 13 Hours Later en route to Chong-Mai**

The plane ride over had been mostly quiet save for Franky's occasional actions and laughs as he busied himself with whatever he came across. And considering how stitched up he looked, it made Oliver wonder how much Hell the man had been through and why he was even still in service when he was clearly not even fit for it mentally but so far hadn't asked as he didn't want to offend their mission leader who seemed fairly friendly towards him and if he was thinking right, saw him as family. Oliver had yet to gear up and had had very little sleep due to nightmares which had made for a little tension with da Costa until Griffith shut her down. "So..." Started the archer randomly and making the team look at him.

"He speaks! Thought mister didn't speak at all!" Spoke up Franky with a smile.

"Oh I do, just hadn't had much to say."

"Well clearly you do now." Came the sarcastic remark from da Costa in her Brazillian accent.

Oliver had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the woman's attitude and keep himself calm as well. "Yeah, cause damn me getting all curious about you guys." He responded to her just as sarcastically.

"What's to know? Other then that I used to be a model in Rio de Janeiro until that cold bitch Amanda Waller came and blackmailed me into working for her. Which, by the way? I hate that bitch so damn much."

Her hands lit up in green fire and alarming Oliver in the process and she saw the reaction and rose one of her hands up. "Frightened are we? You do not have to worry as I only use it against those who attack me." Of course if she ever got the chance, she'd place a hand directly on Waller's face and burn her!

The archer scoffed at her with a shake of the head. "Alarming? Yes. Frightening? Hell no." Especially when he's fought Slade on Mirakuru, went against those red skinned things, that Minotaur, and survived China White.

"By the way, I hate her to the point I'd shove an arrow right into her cold blackened heart." Added the former castaway a few seconds later.

Beatriz could tell how serious the man was being and smirked at him while O'Brian made a remark of his own about the joys of having a new member of the 'We Hate Waller' club. "I take it you work for her too?" Asked Oliver with some curiousity in his voice.

"Yep, I wasn't always a good egg and its one of the reasons I'm stuck workin' for Waller. That and I can stretch myself some." O'Brian showed exactly what he meant by that by making his fingers longer then should be possible.

"I can only extend to a certain amount though and unlike Bea and her Brazillian mysticism, I got some weird acid crap in my blood and voila! The incredible Stretchy Man! Or Plastic Man if you want to go by official channels but those are boring!"

 _Well at least this guy is less serious._ Thought Oliver to himself as he wondered if the other two were just as strange. Though with Franky he had a feeling the guy was but more so in the special kind of way. Ahh… If he only knew!

"So… What about you two?" He asked finally to Griffith and Franky.

"What about me?" Asked Franky confusedly and causing Griffith to chuckle.

"I got this one buddy." He assured his nephew who was quite happy with that idea.

"I've got a few more years on me then most of you here, along with a furry side that I'm sure you'll be seeing on this job. As for Franky? Well… Let's just say there would be trouble even believing it."

Oliver being Oliver strongly doubted it. "I'm not sure about that, especially after all I've seen."

Beatriz and O'Brian were equally as curious and voiced that they wanted to know as it couldn't be that weird compared to them! "Heh, alright then but don't say I didn't warn you guys. Hey Franky! You alright with it if I tell them about ya?"

"Go ahead! Maybe they want to be friends with Franky!" The cheerful guy called out as he kept himself occupied.

Warren chuckled to himself as his old friends certainly had a good kid. "You guys know about Frankenstein's Monster right?"

He got a few answers in return and had been right in his views that anything they would know came from pop culture. "That monster actually existed and he's still around to this day and going by Franklin now. I consider him to be like a brother and he's Franky's old man too."

Things were quiet on the plane for several seconds until O'Brian broke it. "Well… Damn." That had definitely been the last thing he was expecting! Beatriz and Oliver pretty much agreed with those words.

"You be friends?" Came the sudden and surprise question from Franky who seemed afraid of the rejection he might get from them.

"Yeah, sure buddy! Can't hurt to have more friends!" Spoke up O'Brian with a smile and both Oliver and Beatriz reluctantly nodded along with it. Though the archer doubted he would see much of the guy afterwards but he still wondered how Frankenstein's Monster could even have kids.

"Yay!" Shouted out Franky in happiness and even the somewhat cold Beatriz couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Uhh.. Question… If his dad is the Monster, then how was he able to have Franky? Did someone make him like Frankenstein did?" Oliver would likely damn his curiousity but he just had to know!

"Life find way." Spoke up Franky with a big cheesy smile on his face before Warren could say anything.

"Yeah… Let's just go with that." As the reality had been bizarre as Hell when it came to Franklin and Myrra when they had been looking to have a son.

Things were silent for a few minutes after that as Oliver, Beatriz, and O'Brian tried not to think too much on just what exactly Franky's words had truly meant. About ten minutes into the silence, Warren broke it by directing Oliver over to a storage container that had gear for him in it, grabbing it and heading towards the restroom so that he could have a little privacy. He quickly changed into what he'd been given and couldn't help but stare at the mirror as he was quite the sight in green leather and combat pants that included a black t-shirt underneath, green gloves with black under them, along with armguards that were green and black. His arrows were a batch of the ones he'd made at the Foundry plus the carbon rod arrows along with some fletchettes that he could place in certain holders on his outfit. The last two items that completed the look was a small black mask that covered the eye area and a green colored PSE Brute Bow.

The whole thing made him think about that time at Xanadu's when he'd been wondering if the color green was going to be a thing in his life and it was starting to possibly seem like it was! A note from Shrieve was also left saying that the leather vest he had on was bullet proof and Oliver knew he was going to have to do something nice for the man. Stepping out of the bathroom and causing quite a few stares and a brief bout of silence until O'Brian broke it. "Heh… Green Arrow, totally fits perfectly in my head now."

"Eh, I suppose how some might see that to be impressive." Commented Beatriz with a shrug and Oliver rolled his eyes and was glad for the fact he had yet to go off on the woman since she was somewhat trying his nerves.

Franky thought it was really cool as well and if Oliver was being honest with himself, he couldn't wait to try out the new bow! "Alright team, grab your parachutes cause we're droppin' down into enemy territory. Don't forget your ration packs and we'll be doing recon of the place once we land before making a move. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" The other four shouted after Griffith asked his question and they got their equipment ready quickly.

Satisfied with what he saw, the man opened the hatch and was the first out into the night sky. Which was perfect for what they were doing in his view. And soon, the rest of the team joined him in the sky and all were ready for whatever happened next.

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**Author's Notes: Well that was a bit dialogue heavy! But I think that was a good place to end this chapter at. For those who may be wondering, Franky is pretty much my own creation with some inspiration from the Frankenstein's Monster who was seen in Beetleborgs and I thought that Frankenstein's Monster having the name Franklin would be somewhat ironic. Myrra being Myrra Rhodes of the DC team the Creature Commandos and Franky's mom. Gotta love screwing around with history! And looks like there is some mild friction between Fire and Oliver! Wonder how that'll affect things on the mission despite their shared hate of Amanda Waller?**

**Find out next time on that same LycoX channel! R and R!**


	55. Chong-Mai For The Holidays Let's Go Blow Stuff Up! Part 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. And damn is it good to have my website on Wordpress now instead of Weebly. Plus a big Hell Yeah to 55 chapters! "When life gives you booty, make booty-aid!" Big E. on WWE.**

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**December 23rd, 2010 Nearby the Military Facility in Chong-Mai**

It'd been two days since they made land in Chong-Mai near the facility they were to hit and plenty of reconaissance had been as well. Not to mention a bit of tension between Beatriz and Oliver that at one point had resulted in him nearly choking her to death after she had decided to push things and he hadn't taken it too well. Luckily the rest of their team members had managed to pull him off her but he had gotten a few burns in the process on his arms that would probably scar, not that he particularly cared. This incident and witnessing Oliver in his element torturing a watchguard for the facility to get any information he knew had cemented in the Brazillian woman's mind that messing with the archer was not the way to go. And frankly, she was honestly frightened of the man and the sooner they were back home the better she was in being far away from him. Warren had had a word with her that Queen wasn't exactly a huge fan of women currently thanks to Chien Na Wei but wouldn't tell her why but it gave the green haired woman an idea or two that she hoped she was wrong about.

Once the 23rd hit, Warren felt they had gotten enough information to make a strike at that point and when evening fell he ordered his team to move in. Their first plan of action was to circle around the area and take out watch guards so that they couldn't alert the rest of the place to their presence. A task done by both Oliver and Warren as a means of keeping their supplies from getting too low. Once that was taken care of, O'Brian used his lock picking skills to open one of the entrances and they all quickly got inside and made sure to lock the door before hiding behind some crates before an approaching patrol could see any of them. After the patrol guards were further away, the group quickly made their way inside to a large room while ensuring they weren't seen and it'd be Franky who'd be the first to notice just where their objective was.

"They've got half the upper portion of the body already made. Good thing we're here to ensure it doesn't get finished." Said Warren quietly to the others and they nodded.

As none of them wanted to see that thing possibly be used against their homes if the Chong-Mai government decided to get ballsy enough for something like that. "And like our informant told us, this place is guarded really well." Pointed out Oliver as he looked around discretely and it made sense this part of the complex would be the most guarded area due to what they were building here.

Beatriz nearly made a cutting remark about whether or not he could handle it but thankfully managed to hold her tongue. "Us against what? Twenty of 'em? I like those kinds of odds!" Joked O'Brian with a smirk while the green haired woman merely rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm more for the odds of you making it back home O'Brian."

"Hah, what home? Waller's cell? I'll take my chances out here." The fact none of them aside from Beatriz could tell if he was joking bothered the three men.

"No talk like that! Not nice!"

The reprimand from Franky of all people made O'Brian look down in shame while mumbling an apology. After a few more minutes of observing the area, Warren got down to business and laid out the plan for what they would do. Beatriz and O'Brian would take control of the computer stations near the construction of the weapon and take what information they could before destroying the systems so that their plans would be set back for years after Warren, Oliver, and Franky went and kept the guards occupied so that they wouldn't have as much heat as they went to work. "Bullets no fun." Grumbled Franky as he and the other two began the oh so fun task of getting to their target and basically being distractions.

Oliver fired an arrow upwards that made its mark and making the target fall off the stairs and gaining the attention of his friends in the process. The three were soon across the first level while making their way through any resistance as Beatriz and O'Brian made their way to the computers and began their work after knocking out the scientists there. A voice in a foreign language was heard and alarms began to blare and the archer figured they must have finally figured out they were under attack. As the three men made their way up, Franky became something of a shield as he fought his way through the guards and took their attacks that would have killed any normal person. "Green Arrow, I need you to cover me while Franky keeps them occupied."

Stopping what he was doing, the archer found himself curious and was about to ask why the man needed him to watch out for him but soon found out the answer after the man kicked off his boots, pulled off his jacket, bulletproof vest, and shirt and began to make some sort of transformation that quite frankly freaked Oliver the Hell out. Incoming opposition however got his attention and he threw a few fletchettes their way that took them down only to see more coming his way. Oliver used a side arm he was given and quickly used it on the four coming after him since he wasn't wanting to use up more of his fletchettes and arrows just yet. As he took care of two more of the guards, he heard a howl of all things behind him and turned around to see a giant freaking wolf man! "What the f**k!?"

 _This s**t just got weirder._ But of course it'd make sense for Werewolves of all things to exist if magic, those red skinned things, stretchy people, green flaming hands, and minotaurs were around!

The now fully transformed Warren pointed at Oliver and then pointed upwards and the former castaway got what he thought the Werewolf was trying to tell him and quickly went up the steps and took out a few more guards along the way while the team leader jumped upwards to the next level and repeated it several more times until he was able to reach where Franky was. By the time the archer got up to where they were, there was carnage everywhere as the transformed Warren had been busy going to town on the guards. A quick look down at the computer stations revealed that Beatriz and O'Brian were also in the fight of their lives and the archer was getting to see the woman use her green flames to throw fire balls when she had the chance too.

Seeing that a guard was attempting to sneak up behind her, he quickly fired off an arrow that made its mark, surprising Fire in the process. Looking up, she saw Oliver and gave him a nod of thanks and to her futher surprise he gave a nod of his own to her as well. She witnessed as he shot another arrow into another sneaky guard and repeated it again for one that was coming up behind O'Brian. Oliver then got back to business by following Franky and Warren while taking out anybody from the upper levels that he was able too and by the time he got to the level that brought him to the chest area, he was down to one last clip for his hand gun, had only the carbon rod arrows, a trick arrow that could be used for sliding down a rope across a good distance, four fletchettes, and two knives he'd yet to use. An explosion down below meant that the other two must have completed their side of things and were likely already out of the building as ordered. Making his way to the other side of the level where the chest area was, he took out any opposition his team mates might have missed or had been coming from another direction entirely.

Finally making his way to the weapon's chest area, he pulled out all three of the carbon rod arrows that each had a bomb attached to them for extra insurance to set the Chong-Mai military back even further. "Merry Christmas!" Called out the archer as he let the arrows fly right into the chest.

"Mission accomplished!" He yelled out to the two still battling team mates of the remaining opposition still left in the room since anymore was still a good distance away from the large room.

Taking out his trick arrow, he fired it down and immediately went down the rope line after it connected to a lower portion of the wall as Warren quickly jumped off the level in his transformed state while Franky ran right through a wall as the weapon began to glow. Oliver had found Beatriz on her own and she told him that O'Brian had gone in search of some reliable transportation after they had gotten out of the building. Seeing their still transformed team leader come out of the building understandably frightened the woman as she thought he was going to attack until Oliver told her who he was. Something she had trouble believing but considering the nature of her powers she figured it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.

"Hey ladies! You gonna just stand there and gossip all day or what!" Came the voice of O'Brian with a cheery wave at the three.

The two made their way to him but a growl from Warren stopped them in their tracks and they turned back to see him beginning to turn back into his human form. "What the Hell?" Asked a shocked O'Brian who was told by Oliver he'd explain later.

A few minutes later the three were on the jeep Plastic Man had acquired and were off as fast as they could and it wasn't long before they came across Franky fighting off guards a few fire balls from Beatriz helped him out and the big guy quickly got in with them and they speedily made their way through a gate just in time as the facility started to go boom. "Head towards the border leading into China and don't stop until we get to the nearest city there." Ordered Warren and making everyone curious.

"You got it boss lady!" O'Brian thought of asking but figured it was best to wait and see what would happen after they got there.

For Oliver, he wondered if all assignments were like this in some way and if so, where he could sign up before shaking off the thought entirely since it would no doubt take him away from home and family despite how he'd been around them lately. Something that had to change before he lost them and his friends completely.

**Two Hours Later in Dandong, China**

The nearest city after getting past the border to China had been Dandong thanks to the fact it was also on the border of North Korea and the sight of Warren in his torn pants had been quite the sight for quite a few of the residents after they'd stopped at a motel to stay at. Thankfully there was a clothing shop near by and the man had been able to get some clothing with a credit card he'd had the foresight to give to Franky at one point. Afterwards, Warren told his team to rest up as he made the necessary calls to get them all home. O'Brian had cheerfully suggested they all go out for drinks despite how late it was and had Warren paid more attention, he might have been able to possibly keep Franky from having a few experiences that his parents would have preferred him not to have until he was at least thirty. Oliver had kept the hood on as he had no desire to be possibly recognized since that would lead to questions he didn't want to deal with.

As the team enjoyed themselves with plenty of food and drink courtesy of Warren's credit card, though Oliver stayed away from anything alcoholic, a very different moment was happening back at the now destroyed military facility in Chong-Mai. As top Generals and the nation's leader gathered together atop a hill to discuss what had happened. "It is no doubt that the Americans are behind this since they do not like anyone having more power then them!" Came from one particular General who despite his elderly appearance was not one to be trifled with.

The others nodded at his words. "We expected as such but they merely destroyed the decoy, nothing more." Added the nation's leader who was rather happy with the geniusness of it all for being able to fool the foreigners.

"Is the facility underneath untouched?" Asked another of the Generals.

The first General who had spoken gave the confirmation that it had been untouched thanks to the plans they made to ensure nothing would happen to their weapon. "We have successfully fooled the foreigners into believing they have destroyed our nation's weapon against them. This shall leave us free to continue to build our great weapon with them none the wiser. And once it is complete, no foreigner shall ever enter our lands again!" And perhaps the might of Chong-Mai would be felt all over the world in time. After all, it was his destiny as the leader of the great nation of Chong-Mai to see his people to true greatness.

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**Author's Notes: I know that realistically they would be speaking another language entirely, but since it was shown that they spoke English in the JLU episode, I figured it'd be okay to just use English for here. And in a way, this sort of helps to set up those future events for that JLU episode and or any future events for this universe of mine. Hope you guys enjoyed this story arc and as for what I have next? Well, let's just say it involves what Akio got up too while all this was going on. After that, we'll see the aftermath of the team's night of fun followed by Oliver returning home just in time for Christmas! And I for one can't wait to write the aftermath for the team's night of fun! R and R!**


	56. In Search Of A Soccer Ball

**Disclaimer: I only own what you see here in this idea. The Arrow property is something I sadly don't own. And now, for a look at what Akio got up too while Oliver was away!**

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**December 23rd, 2010 at the Yamashiro House at 10:40 AM**

Life for one Akio Yamashiro, son of Maseo and Tatsu Yamashiro and self professed annoyer of Oliver Queen was pretty darn good in his view of things. He and his family no longer had to worry about Japan or about that mean Waller woman and he could actually go to school and be around other kids too! And it was mostly in part to that General guy and Oliver for making it happen and it kind of made the kid wonder if he should join the army too if it meant he could help out like that. Course he still had a few years before he could even do that and who knows what he'd be thinking by then! Though at the moment, for the life of him he couldn't figure out where his soccer ball was as he was in the mood to see if he could get a game going even if it was in the snow. Leaving his room in search of the ball and it wasn't long before he found himself in the kitchen after his mother called for him. "And here I thought you would stay in that room for hours yet."

He smiled at her joke and was glad she had the day off. "Have you seen my soccer ball? I looked everywhere but I can't find it."

 _Ah! Now I see why he's up and about!_ Him and that sport! But at least he was into it and actively pursuing it so that was a plus at least.

"I last recall seeing it in the car several days ago."

Of course she hadn't given it much thought since then due to other things going on in life. After learning of that, Akio dashed back into his room a yell of thanks for his mom's help and got himself ready for a trip outside since he wasn't wanting to freeze himself wearing what he had on now. He also made sure to grab the car keys on the counter near the front door since he was still not tall enough to look into the windows of their four door Suburban. A look around inside several minutes later revealed he was out of luck yet again. "Darn it!"

Making his way back inside the house, Tatsu quickly saw that he had returned without the item he'd been searching for. "Bad luck hmm? Why not call AJ? Perhaps he has seen it."

She handed him her cell phone and got a beaming smile from her son in return. "Thanks mom!"

Looking at the contacts on his mother's phone, he quickly found the number he needed and called it. It wasn't long before he got an answer from AJ's mom. " _Hey Tatsu! Wasn't expecting a call from you this early!_ "

"Sorry Mrs. Diggle, but this is Akio, can I speak to AJ please?"

" _Sure sweety, I'll be just a second._ " The young man wondered why adults said stuff like that when it really took more than a second!

AJ quickly got on the phone a minute later. " _Yo! What's up dude?_ "

"Have you seen my soccer ball recently?"

His friend didn't answer right away and he figured he was likely thinking it over. " _Nah man, not since the last time we played a few days ago. Sorry dude._ " That bit of news wasn't to Akio's liking but appreciated being told that none the less and thanked him for that.

After hanging up a few minutes later after asking about it possibly being at Big Belly Burger and being told no on that as well. "No luck hmm? I do recall stopping by the gym and Oliver's the last time you had your ball."

"Can we go to the gym!?" That place is big and Mr. Ted's always pretty busy so he might not even remember it because of that!

"And if its not there?" Though Tatsu had a feeling where her son would go with that.

"Then we go to Oliver's! It could be anywhere in that big house!"

She smiled at him and told him to wait a few minutes as she needed to get ready and he cheered happily over that.

**Fourty Minutes Later**

After a slow drive to the Wildcat Gym for safety reasons due to the weather, Ted had been nice enough to let Akio wonder around in search of his soccer ball and even helped in the search while his mother took over the training he'd been doing with one of the kids who came by the gym every so often. Unfortunately for him, the ball was no where in sight and nobody there could really even remember seeing one. But Ted did promise to keep an eye out for it and ask anybody who wasn't there at the moment the next time he saw them. Akio gave him a hearty thank you and got a head rub in return. As they walked back to their vehicle, Tatsu remarked that his ball could be at the school. "I hope not, that would really suck!"

"Let me call Mrs. Queen to see if she will be okay with us searching for it in her home. Perhaps Thea will be there to help us if she is willing." He nodded enthusiastically at that as he loved being around that girl as she was pretty much like the big sister he always wanted. The fact she encouraged him to annoy Oliver on occasion was pretty cool too.

Though he wished she'd tell him what was wrong with Oliver lately as he'd been really unhappy and kind of mean too. He could understand it if they were still stuck doing what that mean Waller woman wanted but he hadn't seen her around. It sucked no one wanted to tell him anything! But he did hope that the guy he considered as a big brother would be okay soon. A few minutes after getting into the Suburban and getting it nicely warm, his mother got off the phone and gave him a smile. "You are quite lucky that Mrs. Queen said yes. She also says feel free to find the cookies if you can."

A grin appeared on Akio's face at that as Oliver's mom had made a game of hiding the cookies and letting him find them. It was honestly fun as she always tended to hide them in interesting places in her house! "Awesome!"

**Thirty Minutes Later**

Raisa was the one to greet the two at the front doors with a wide smile on her face and called out to Thea that the Yamashiros are there. And it wasn't long before Thea appeared as well from the living room with a smile on her face and Lupus in her arms. The sight of Akio had the little fella wanting to get out of her arms and she complied with a laugh. "Okay little guy, down you go!"

She gently put him down and Akio got on his knees to hug the puppy as he jumped on him. The three women watched with smiles on their faces as the two played and the Queen teen was once again happy that Ollie had brought the little guy home with him. "So, what brings you two by? Ollie as you know isn't here and mom's at the company with Walter." Course she wondered just how much of a business thing it really even was that had her mom at the company.

"Akio is in search of his soccer ball, so we have come here to see if its anywhere in your home."

Thea nodded at that in understanding, though she couldn't recall seeing one aside from the last time the Yamashiros had been over. "Last time I remember seeing that thing was when you guys were last here. But I'd be happy to help look for it since this place is pretty big." Though a part of her wondered why Mrs. Yamashiro didn't just go out and buy a new ball instead of looking everywhere for a missing one.

Then again, who plays Soccer when its all snowy outside? Unless Akio was wanting to see how it would go since kids his age could be pretty curious. She wondered if she could be around for that moment as she felt it was bound to be amusing to watch in some way. "Thank you for being willing to help us in the search Thea. It is appreciated."

Tatsu had a feeling the younger girl was wondering why she didn't simply go buy a new one and while she could, that was unlikely to teach her son anything about the value of an item. Plus the fact it might be later found would probably show that buying a new ball would have been a waste. But since it wasn't asked about by the young Queen, the mother of one saw no need to speak up about it. A few minutes later saw the four searching through out the house, though Thea would handle her and her mother's rooms herself. Little Lupus had been a bit put out that he wasn't getting any attention so he took to following behind Akio and occasionally nipped at the bottom of his pants to try and get his attention. His efforts got the boy to stop and suddenly found himself picked up, which was great in his little puppy mind!

"We can play after I find my ball okay?" Lupus barked at him and then licked his face, getting a laugh in the process.

However, the search proved to be in vain, even after he'd gone outside to try and look for it. Of course with the snow and all that made it a bit difficult to do. Walking back inside slowly and a bit bummed out as Lupus trailed along side him, the women would be greeted by the saddened sight of Akio and Tatsu was quick to hug him. Even Lupus gave off a little whimper at seeing one of his humans looking so sad and got a little loving from one his girl humans afterwards. "Unfortunately, it seems your ball may just be at the school unless it is somewhere in the snow here."

Thea had a brief thought and could have slapped herself for not having thought of it sooner. "You know there is one room here none of us thought to search."

Akio, his mother, and Raisa all looked at her expectantly. "Lupus' play room!"

When she thought about it, it was entirely possible it had wound up in there either from someone's doing or the puppy's own doing since he loved having all sorts of toys to play with. One of the less used rooms in the house had been turned into a play room for Lupus even though he pretty much had free run of the place but it was usually where he slept if no one was going to be there to be with him. Any of his toys could be found there as well if one wanted to use one with him. Akio quickly ran off in the direction of the play room and wished he had thought of that earlier! The other three plus Lupus followed him and it would seem the son of Maseo and Tatsu would see an end to his search. Though maybe not in the way he would have hoped for!

"Aww man!" Lupus bounded over to him, seemingly expecting his little human to use the new toy to play with him over. Though the little fella missed that it wasn't big and round anymore!

The very soccer ball he'd been looking for was now very flat and it was quite clear that Lupus had been the culprit! How he managed to pull it off was anyone's guess though since none of them thought his teeth were quite that strong enough but it seemed they may have been wrong. Unless he had been doing it little by little over the past few days. _Well, I now have a new idea of what to get my son for Christmas._ Thought Tatsu with a smile that went unnoticed by her son due to his ruined ball keeping his attention.

Lupus tugged on the ruined ball, hoping that a little playfulness would get his little human to be more happy. While Akio wanted to be really upset over his ruined ball, he knew he couldn't get all that angry with Lupus since the little guy was still just a puppy who didn't quite know better just yet. Hopefully his mom and dad would get him a new ball soon! Giving into the puppy's desire to play and making the little guy pretty excited in the process. The two would play a good long while and it'd certainly help in getting little Lupus all tired out too for several hours afterwards. Thea would wind up talking Tatsu into staying awhile and she and her son would still be there by the time Moira came home and would happily see that Akio had gone in search for the hidden cookies.

"Hmm… Seems I'll have to try harder to hide them even better next time!" It was times like this that her son had befriended the Yamashiros during his time away since her beautiful boy and his sister weren't exactly his age to be doing this sort of game with. Course if things had been different, the grandchild she has through Sandra would probably be enjoying this quite a bit as well despite the young age. But that was not to be anytime soon in her view.

Moira hoped however that her son would be able to take the news well about the lie he'd been told when the time came and her part in that. The mother of two hoped however that her son would be home in time for Christmas even though they weren't really doing anything for it but it was the thought that counted after all. A part of her wondered if he planned to do something like he had on Thanksgiving but Tatsu knew nothing of any plans of the sort. The Queen Matriarch couldn't help but laugh when Akio enthusiastically told her that that would be a cool thing to do. It would certainly take the troubles off of her son's mind for awhile at the least! Course there would be the issue of Malcolm having a problem with the whole thing as he did during the Thanksgiving stunt.

She'd been thankful he had yet to do anything over that and thought that maybe it wasn't worth the effort just yet. Time would tell however on how long that might last if her son did anything else Malcolm would potentially see as a threat. She could always try to prevent her son from doing anything he planned in the Glades but she knew him well enough to know that he would do it regardless unless she actually told him why she didn't want him doing it. But she absolutely had no plans to do that as she didn't want him anywhere near Malcolm and his plans for the Glades! _Enough of that line of th_ _inking_ _, it won't do at a happy time like this._ Mentally chastised the woman in her head.

And a truly happy time it was for the woman as she enjoyed some quality time with her daughter, a newly arrived Walter, Raisa, and Tatsu as they all watched Akio with Lupus and even joined in from time to time. It was a pity Maseo couldn't be there with them due to his personal security job however.

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**Author's Notes: Hope you guys enjoyed this light hearted chapter. Have to admit it was kind of a challenge since Akio wasn't seen all that much in the show. So hopefully I did fairly well with him and Tatsu. Can't wait for the Crossover Event! Up next, the aftermath of Oliver and the team's night out and his return home! R and R!**


	57. A Promise For Christmas

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. Now… Let's roll on! I also want to point out that I am no hater and I am certainly not looking to 'take' Felicity's head as someone was so inclined to believe in a review of theirs.**

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**December 24th, 2010, Dandong, China 10:40 AM**

Oliver Queen had been awake nearly an hour now thanks to a few nightmares but he couldn't deny the fact he had a smile on his face after remembering the pretty wild night he and the team had the previous night. A fairly wild night where he didn't have a single drop of alcohol since he wasn't looking to get drunk anytime soon. That and the potential for what he was liable to do while drunk wasn't something he wanted to risk. Now seeing the others though? That had actually been fun to watch! Well, a part from Beatriz anyway as she'd turned into one of the types of drunks that was angry and liked to pick fights with people. Thankfully she hadn't said anything too revealing about any of them in her state. O'Brian turned out to be a horrible dancer thanks to the alcohol he had and Franky surprisingly was quite the ladies man despite his appearance and mannerisms. Mannerisms that changed after having alcohol in him for the first time and became what Beatriz at one point referred to Franky as the 'Swaying Gentleman.'

A title that was accurate as can be due to how he'd sway from side to side while acting like a smooth criminal and impressing the ladies with his drunken gentleman act. It'd be the damnedest thing Oliver had ever seen and a part of him had been wishing for a camera as well to take pictures or make a video out of the whole thing. But by Three AM, Oliver was ready to go and had thankfully managed to get the three back to the hotel without much of an incident. Thankfully Warren had been asleep as he wasn't sure what the man would think of several members of the team being drunk out of their minds. Especially where Franky was concerned. If Oliver was still his older self, he'd probably take Franky under his wing and teach him how to really get the girls while not being drunk.

"Ugh… My head." Moaned his Brazillian team mate from the love seat she crashed on after they got in from their night of fun.

"Here, this'll help." Offered Oliver as he had a good idea his team mates would have unpleasant hang overs and had gotten the ingredients he needed to make the hang over cure he and Tommy had come up with a few years ago.

Beatriz looked at the offered glass suspiciously and the archer had to refrain from rolling his eyes. But take it she did after realizing who was offering her the glass and gulped it down quickly. "Oh my God! That is horrible!" Came the groan from the green haired Brazillian with a wince.

"And you're welcome." Replied Oliver as he took the glass from her and set it elsewhere.

"Keep it down would ya!? Got a monster of a headache!"

"That's why you shouldn't have gotten so drunk last night O'Brian." Called out Warren with a smirk on his face as he walked into the living room and saw the hung over man sprawled out on the floor.

A moan escaped the man's lips and Oliver hunched down to offer him a glass of the hang over cure. "I don't wanna!"

"You will if you don't want your head pounding so badly."

O'Brian looked at his team's archer blearily for a moment before finally taking the glass and drinking it. The experience was a horrible one for the man as it was probably one of the most unpleasant things he'd ever tried! "Holy Louise! That's terrible pal!"

He didn't get a response but that was fine with him while Warren chuckled at the scene in front of him. His and Oliver's attention was caught however when the door to the bathroom opened and Franky, along with two girls stepped out of there and honestly making Oliver's jaw, along with Warren's drop in the process. One of the girls was a redhead while the other was a blonde and both looked to be quite beautiful and maybe a little familiar now that the archer thought about it. The girls quickly stopped in their tracks however as they saw that Franky's friends were awake. "Oh! Um… Hello?" Got out the redhead nervously.

"They no bite cause their friends!" Added Franky cheerfully to the woman.

Beatriz and O'Brian had managed to get themselves to a point to see what was going on and both were equally shocked by what they were seeing. _There's just no way he could have gotten that far with two girls!_ Thought the woman as she didn't exactly think he was suitable for any girl with the mindset he has!

And she knew full well that looks didn't mean a damn thing if the interest and any potential feelings in the other person was real enough to ignore their looks. "Franky, buddy of mine, whose safety was entrusted to me by your parents for God's sake! Who are these two!?"

"We're the Nilcax sisters!" Answered the blonde before her sister or Franky could.

 _Well damn!_ Came the collectively stunned thought.

"Really good friends to Franky! Things happen that Franky didn't know could happen." Added in Franky with a nod and a big dopey smile on his face.

The girls on the other hand were looking a little embarrassed but had pleased smiles on their faces as he was quite possibly the best experience they'd ever had with a man! Even with his lack of experience but he'd proven to be a fast learner after having the right kind of motivation! "How did you even get in here?" Asked Oliver suspiciously as he'd made sure they weren't being followed as he got the team back here!

 _I am so, so, so dead._ Moaned Warren in his head. The last thing Franky's parents wanted was for him to lose his virginity to some girl he didn't even know!

O'Brian had a smirk on his face over the whole thing while Beatriz wasn't quite sure what to think! "I gave Franky baby my cell phone so that he could call us when he got back here." Informed the redhead as she showed them her cell phone and not adding anything else since it was quite obvious about what had pretty much happened afterwards.

Laughter broke out from O'Brian while Warren facepalmed himself with a groan. _Dead! I've managed to live for a long ass time and now I finally know what's gonna get me! Franklin and his wife!_

"Congratulations Franky, I didn't have my first double fun til I was fifteen."

Oliver got a look for that from the team leader. "What? He's officially a man now." Oliver said with a shrug like the whole thing was no big deal.

He wasn't gonna ruin the moment with any sort of negative feelings about women he's had lately and he could tell how pleased Franky was with himself over the whole thing. Warren just facepalmed himself again with another groan while O'Brian had another chuckle over what had just been said. _Boy, Queen's hang over cure works quick!_ He noted with interest and wondered if the guy would give him the recipe? It'd certainly come in handy that's for sure!

The girls, realizing the tension in the room decided that maybe it was a good time to leave. So after placing some kisses on Franky's cheek they made their way out of the room. "See ya Franky!"

"Yeah, see ya baby! If you're ever this way again give us a call!"

"Or we'll find a way to you!"

"Okay! Bye bye friends!" Replied Franky happily and with that, the two girls were gone.

Silence reigned in the room after that for several minutes until Beatriz broke it with a question. "Franky can't get a girl pregnant right?"

That made Warren pale instantly as he never even thought of that! O'Brian laughed his head off after seeing the man's reaction and Oliver couldn't help but wonder that himself! "God I hope not or I am deader than I already am with his parents!"

"It was good knowin' ya while it lasted pal." Remarked O'Brian after managing to get a hold of himself from all the laughing.

He chuckled after getting a glare from the man for his words. _This is my life now._ And Oliver wondered if that was possibly a good or bad thing.

**December 25th, 2010 near the Queen Mansion around 5:00 AM**

Once the team had shaken off the shock of Franky having lost his virginity to a pair of sisters, the team quickly got mobilized and on their way home courtesy of the only remaining specialized speed planes from Ferris Air in existence that had been heavily modified through ARGUS means. Oliver had managed to talk his mother into funding the project before the episode with China White but it was taking time to build more of the planes and this one had already been swooped up by ARGUS after it had been finished. Their engineers and technicians had seen to it that their craft was without issues and the organization was looking forward to more of them being made as it would certainly help with long distance missions. Oliver wasn't too sure about it but wasn't going to say anything since he didn't really feel like it was his place.

The archer had been thankful as Hell this time around that the plane didn't decide to have issues like the plane he'd been on had as he had enough of his own issues to deal with out adding more to it! He'd long since got back into regular clothes and was currently finishing up getting parachute gear on him properly as he was planning to parachute to his house. It'd taken a little convincing but Warren had agreed to it after seeing how much it meant to the younger man. Once finishing up what he needed too, he stood near the hatch and readied himself for the drop. Foot steps from behind caught his attention and he looked behind to see Warren approaching him with a bag. "Here man, the General said this is yours now."

Confused, Oliver grabbed the bag and looked inside and was surprised to see the gear he'd been given for the mission inside. Looking up with the confusion still showing, Warren gave a nod to him before responding. "Boss man thought it was appropriate to give to you. Said it was a Christmas gift from him."

"Oh." Was all he could think of to really say but he knew he was gonna have to do something pretty nice for the man at some point.

"You mind if I give a piece of advice?"

Oliver looked at him with curiousity in his eyes and nodded at him. "You're probably gonna wanna hit me for this, but I just wanna say that you should't let what that Triad bitch did to you destroy who you are and lose all that you care for. Cause if you do, then she wins again."

Annoyance swept through Oliver but he couldn't help but feel somewhat grateful for the man's words. "You're right, I do want to hit you for bringing that up. But… Thank you, I hadn't even really thought about it like that."

There was no way in Hell he wanted that bitch to win at anything! And so he made a promise to himself to start trying to get out of the pit he'd fallen into since that day with her. His friends and family deserved better then how he was treating them and he himself deserved better. He'd work on getting better and would spit in China White's face the next time he saw her as he proudly declared her actions against him did not ruin him in the end. And then… Then he'd kick her right in the face for good measure. The thought was enough to make him smile and Warren had wrongly made the assumption it was cause of the words he'd spoken. "You're free to hit me if it'll make you feel better." Offered the Werewolf.

Oliver couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him after that. "Ha, nah, maybe some other time."

Warren nodded and as he did so, a red light came on and he knew it was time for the archer to get on his way. "Go time Mr. Queen."

Oliver nodded as Warren went over and opened up the hatch and the archer came to the middle and waited for it to open. Once it did, he looked back at the group he'd been team mates with. "Merry Christmas everyone." And with that, he was off the plane with the gear he'd been given by Shrieve.

Once he made landing, he made sure to stash the parachute equipment somewhere that wouldn't be easily noticable and quietly made his way inside through the back door. It wasn't long before Lupus came across him and Oliver thankfully was able to get him to quiet down before he alerted everybody to the fact he was in the house. Making his way to his room with Lupus as quietly as possible, he stashed the bag of gear under his bed with the intention to get it out to the Foundry at a later time. The former castaway wasn't entirely sure he'd use any of it save for the bow but the outfit itself would come in handy in case anything happened to the current one he has. And after taking a shower, Oliver found himself surprisingly falling asleep with Lupus next to him on the bed.

**12:20 PM**

Several hours later of thankfully uninterrupted sleep, Oliver found himself awake and feeling rested for once for the first time in awhile and it was honestly nice too. He also noticed that Lupus was gone and figured the little guy must have gone out the doggy door he'd installed a few days after getting him and after a quick trip to the bathroom, Oliver made his way out of his room in blue jeans and a green t-shirt and towards the front room where the most noise was coming from and was happy to see that Tommy, his mother, Thea, and Lupus enjoying themselves. Lupus was the first to notice him and ran to him and got picked up by his master for his efforts! Thea was soon towards him with a hug of her own as well. "Ollie! I can't believe it!"

She knew he told her he'd be back just in time but a part of her wasn't sure to believe it as seeing it actually happen would be the way to go. And what do ya know? He'd kept his promise after all! Though she soon realized what she'd done moments later and pulled away. "Oh, sorry Ollie."

A chuckle could be heard from him. "Don't be Speedy." And then pulled her back into the hug and while he was somewhat uncomfortable he was doing his best to ignore it.

Moira came up to them with tears in her eyes and he gave her a silent nod and she joined the hug, happy that her son was home for Christmas. Tommy watched the scene with a smile and would soon get his own brief hug after the archer had pulled away from his family after the uncomfortable feeling got a bit much for him. Thankfully they had understood but hated it quite a bit. The day would pass peacefully and Oliver would even call up his friends to wish them all a Merry Christmas. Oliver would even get to hear the entertaining story of Akio's reaction to a new soccer ball while he made his calls. Carol would be utterly happy about the phone call he made to her after he got done talking with the Diggles. Their talk would last a few hours surprisingly enough and Hal would later have a good laugh over it once Oliver made a call to him to wish him a Merry Christmas and talk some.

For Oliver Queen, former playboy and former castaway, and now an archery using vigilante, this Christmas had been the best one he'd had in several years. And a part of him was curious to see how the upcoming year would go.

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**Author's Notes: I've been listening to Black Stone Cherry pretty much all night as I wrote this. I highly recommend them to any of you. Anywho, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I originally had a different idea in mind for how the family would learn Oliver was home and it would involve cooking breakfast. But I felt this was the better way to go. The next chapter will likely be the final one of this story and as for what happens in it? Well, as River Song would say… Spoilers! R and R!**


	58. A New Day

**Disclaimer: This is it y'all, the final chapter of What If? Making The Call. Huge thanks to everybody who's supported this story from the beginning. Its been a great experience for me in writing this story and if it wasn't for Arrow, I probably wouldn't have even gotten back into writing fanfiction. And I'm sorry, but does anyone else feel that they shoehorned the military/drug lord past with Andy? I just can't buy any of that as it especially wasn't even mentioned earlier in the show about his military past. Oh, and I own nothing but what you see here.**

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**Friday, December 31st, 2010 New Years Eve, 4:30 PM at the Diggle Residence**

The day had a feeling of excitement to it that Andy had been feeling ever since he woke up that morning next to his still asleep wife. The days since Christmas had been pretty good in the man's view of things, especially where Oliver was concerned since it seemed like the guy was attempting to try and get past the trauma inflicted on him by that woman. It had made the father of one wonder what exactly had happened on that trip he'd gone on as it had to have had some sort of impact on him if he was trying what he was. Andy even had a chance to talk to him and asked Oliver about it and all he was told is that someone had given him some good advice and he was gonna use it. The bodyguard honestly wanted to shake the hand of whoever had given that advice and then buy them a drink. The two would have their own talk and Andy would even tell him that his one wish for his friend would to just be happy.

Something Oliver had actually appreciated instead of being annoyed over like he thought the other man might have been. Of course at the moment there wasn't much excitement for Andy as he and Carly were in the middle of an argument after he'd gotten a call for a bodyguard assignment. No doubt it was another punk one percenter considering the pay he'd been offered and it was something he definitely could use to put into an idea he'd been long wanting to do for awhile now and had been putting money into. An idea he'd talked about with his brother since he knew the man would probably be interested as it would no doubt give him more to do then just sitting around and or protecting punk one percenters who in his words wouldn't survive a day in country. Of course both knew that didn't exactly fit the Queen siblings.

"I just don't see why it has to be you!? Couldn't they have called in someone else for this job!?"

"Because baby, I was specifically requested for this job. If it wasn't for that I woulda just said no."

Carly shook her head over the response in unhappiness. The Big Belly Burger manager, wife, and mother had been looking forward to bringing in the new year with her husband very much and now this was happening! She still didn't get why he couldn't just say no regardless! "You still can say no! The client will be upset but that's their problem!"

Something he would love to do but he knew if he did, it'd put a dent in his being a reliable bodyguard and he didn't need for that to happen. Not when the pay helped provide extra for his family and their home. Placing his hands on her shoulders and looking into her eyes, he told her exactly why he couldn't say no and that the pay from this job would provide a good extra bit of bank for them and his idea. Carly sighed as she realized this wasn't going to be an argument she was going to like and hating every bit of it. Bad enough John had been asked by Thea Queen if he'd watch out for her while she was partying it up for New Year's. Which in retrospect was a smart decision on the girl's part and something the man had agreed to do. Course the mother couldn't believe Moira was allowing it to even happen to begin with. But considering the therapy Thea herself was in and the past actions on Oliver's part from before the Island, she supposed it wasn't that hard to believe Moira wouldn't be much of a firm mother who did what she had to in order to keep her kids from being all that wild. Especially in light of the fact that they were well known figures.

"Fine, but don't expect me to be awake when you get home." Her words and tone also implied he wasn't gonna have much luck in getting her to wake up either.

Andy gave her a look that told her he didn't quite take her seriously on that and she rolled her eyes at him. "I mean it."

"Mm-hmm… We'll see when I get home tonight." He told her with a smile and she pushed him away playfully.

The two shared a kiss before Andy grabbed up his coat, gave a hug to their son and made his way out the door. "Stay safe baby." Carly whispered as she always feared something would happen to him on these jobs.

**Queen Mansion 6:45 PM**

John Diggle had decided to come over to the Queen mansion nearly two hours ago so that he could primarily stick around until Thea got ready to head out for some fun with her friends. Fun that he would be keeping a good eye on to ensure the girl or any of her friends weren't doing things that they shouldn't be doing. He knew the girl was trying to turn things around but things still could happen none the less, especially if one was looking to impress their friends but Thea wasn't exactly that kind of person and would be more than likely to boot someone from her life if they weren't being willing enough to respect her wishes. Moira as far as he knew was planning for a quiet night in with Walter and Oliver had only said he'd do whatever that came to mind since he had no real plans. Something Tommy had rolled his eyes over as he had a good idea of what they could do for the night.

But he didn't voice those as he knew the answer would be a rejection. The Merlyn Scion planned to stick around for a little while though to help catch his best friend up on a little of what he missed movie wise since they still had plenty to catch up. Raisa would also be taking the night off as well to spend it with her husband and was making sure things would be okay with out her before she eventually left. Currently, Oliver, Tommy, and John were playing a card game to pass the time and it was even allowing for Tommy and John to get to know one another a little more since the two hadn't interacted a whole lot since the Diggle brothers had started working for the Queen family. Tommy had made a joke at one point that with a background like John's, his dad would probably hire him on the spot if he was able too in order to keep his own son out of trouble or what have you.

John had joked back that he had more then enough on his plate with the Queen siblings, earning him an amused shake of the head from Oliver in the process. "You and Laurel plan on doing anything tonight Tommy?" Asked Oliver at one point during their card game and surprising his best friend as well as he hadn't expected that question from him.

"Uh, that depends on her really. Knowing her she'll be wrapped up in lawyer stuff at CNRI despite it being a holiday." Lord knows that girl could get pretty focused and had especially gotten more so that way after getting a job at CNRI and doing what she could for those who had rotten luck hit them.

"Just don't do somethin' stupid that'll get her mad at you." Offered up Diggle while trying not to wince at the bad hand he had.

Tommy just gave him a look before responding. "Its not like we're an exclusive thing you know. I mean… I wouldn't mind it or anything but she's a tough nut to crack when it comes to the relationship thing." And he knew she had good reason for it thanks to the crap Ollie had done over the course of their relationship and its not like he himself was good at those either but he was willing to try where Laurel's concerned.

Oliver had to wince over that as he knew full well why his ex was that way but he didn't really have much to offer that would be any help. "That's completely understandable man, but if you really want this girl, you've gotta be willing to wait on her and not go out with some other girl as otherwise that's just gonna make it difficult for you in the long run."

His words got a nod from the younger man who knew the bodyguard was right in what he was saying. Hell, he'd always liked Laurel but never really thought he would have a chance with her since she was so into Ollie and he'd long suspected Laurel had been behind the cops showing up at a party her sister and Ollie had gone too since the other girl was interested in him too. "You're right Digg, you're absolutely right. She is worth it and I will prove myself to her no matter how long it takes."

"Good man, make sure you invite me to the wedding." Joked Diggle with a smile.

"Aww, that's so sweet of you three to sit there and talk about feelings. All you need to do now is do one another's hair."

The three men turned their heads to see a smirking Thea Queen leaning up against the door way of the living room with her arms crossed along with some of her friends who were giggling at her joke. "These two maybe, but me? Not a chance." Responded Diggle with a smile at the girl as he pointed at his head and the lack of extra hair.

Thea shook at her head at the man with that smirk still present. "Now that's a true crime as it'd probably be really cute to see you get your hair styled by those two." Not to mention hysterical seeing as how neither Ollie or Tommy could do hair.

"My hands and the hair of other people don't mix. Unless there's a fight involved." Oliver said with a shrug as he remembered how annoying that douche bag drug dealer of a hippie had been that Waller had sent him after in Hong Kong during the early days of his time there.

His sister, Tommy, and John had all given him a look over that. "I… Really don't think any of us want to know how you know that." Muttered Tommy a few seconds later.

"Agreed." Replied Thea with a nod.

A chuckle could be heard from the former castaway as he messed with his cards. "Probably for the best."

"I take it you ladies are ready then?" Asked Diggle after deciding to change the subject. Something Oliver was grateful for.

"You got it John!"

John just chuckled and smiled as he put down his cards as he stood up. "Well then, let's begin a night of teenaged fun that's sure to make me feel old." Thea shook her head at the man in fond exasperation while Tommy and Oliver grinned at the joke.

Grabbing his coat, he and the girls made their way out and Oliver had time to yell at his sister to stay safe and get a snarky remark in turn that she might try it if it didn't sound too boring. "You really gotta love her. Makes me wish I had a sister."

"My sister is your sister buddy." Oliver would never know how much his best friend would greatly appreciate in hearing that.

The two continued to play their card game for a little longer until Tommy got a text from Laurel much to his complete surprise. "Hate to run Ollie, but I gotta roll."

"Take care Tommy." Responded the archer while being pretty curious about the text his best friend got but deciding not to ask as it was his own business.

Besides, maybe he could go and see if Ted and Maseo were having any luck with that missing person's report and maybe offer to help out in the search? Sure he could have a quiet night in but why do that when someone likely needed help? Who knows, maybe he'd get to bust a few heads while searching. He faintly heard Tommy telling him to take care as well as he rushed off as he thought to himself. Looking around at the living room, Oliver put the cards altogether and set them to the side gently on the table so nothing would happen to them. Heading up to his room to grab a few items, he pulled out his cell phone and pressed the call button on Maseo's name. His call would turn out to be a good thing as the Japanese man definitely wanted to have him on board for for the search and Ted was in full agreement too.

**Two Minutes to Midnight**

Andy Diggle was pretty much annoyed as Hell by this point and really wishing he had said no after all. His client was an absolute pain in the ass as she kept getting herself into all sorts of damn trouble with various guys and girls when any of them felt threatened by her when it came to their men at any of the clubs and parties she went too. Hell, she'd even tried things with him when they had been alone with one another for the first time but he had put that down quick as he told her he was married and happy in a very firm voice. Clarice the Client had merely rolled her eyes, popped her bubblegum, and told him it was his loss if he didn't want to experience what she had to offer. The father had very nearly told her it was a loss he'd happily take but remembered in time that there was a certain bodyguard/client protocol to follow.

One that he was very, very close to breaking and telling the damn spoiled brat that he was just done with her crap as he had far better things to do. Like be with his wife and son on a night like this. But finding her in the mass of party goers at some mansion was proving to be a little difficult, much to his growing annoyance. But then, as if God or some other divine being had been listening to his inner dialogue, he spotted Clarice in the drive way and looking like she was having a ton of fun with some guy. And as he made his way over, Clarice's 'friend' spotted him and she groaned in disgust as she knew the complete drag was about to come and bust up her fun. So she decided to walk his way as well to meet up half way and maybe give him a piece of her mind too!

However, that impending conversation would not come to pass as to her absolute horror as the fireworks began to explode to help ring in the new year, the bodyguard fell down and on to his back after getting shot! For Andy, the sudden pain he'd felt in his chest had been a complete surprise to him and barely had the opportunity to try and see where it had come from before falling down rather hard. And just when the new year had arrived too. Something felt wrong about the whole thing though as he seemed to be feeling really weak quicker then he expected and had the horrible feeling the bullet he'd been shot with was laced with something. What that was he had no idea unfortunately. Andy could faintly hear screams all around him but he barely could focus on it.

 _Carly… AJ… I love you both…_ And with his final thought on two of the people he loved most, Andy Diggle was gone from the world.

**Saturday, January 1st, 2011 at the Queen Mansion at 9:04 AM**

Oliver had just gotten out of the shower feeling more refreshed thanks to the shower in addition to the four hours of sleep he'd gotten after getting home earlier in the night. The search for the missing child that he had helped Maseo and Ted with had almost came to a horribly bad ending if it hadn't of been for the three arriving just in time for the three men to stop the young girl's life from being sacrificed by some nut job in a robe. The nut job and his friends hadn't been too difficult to deal with either and Oliver had very nearly castrated the man until Ted managed to get him to stop. Afterwards, Maseo and Ted got the girl home while Oliver stayed in the shadows to ensure the loony toon and his friends would get picked up by the police. The people of the Glades would be a bit safer without one more nut job on the streets, that was for sure.

Coming down the steps in only a pair of blue jeans with a towel on his shoulder as he'd been drying out his hair, he could hear the ringing of the house's phone line until someone picked it up. Oliver wasn't sure who would be calling this early in the morning, especially after a night like New Year's Eve but figured it might be one of the parents of Thea's friends since they had all spent the night and crashed in the living room. "W-what? Oh G-God no!" The trembling voice of his baby sister worried the Hell out of Oliver and he rushed down the last of the steps and into the hallway near the living room where the phone was located at.

The sight of Thea trembling and in tears as she had a hand in front of her mouth with a horrified and crushed look on her face only served to make him even more worried. "Speedy? What's the matter?"

Wordlessly, she handed him the phone as she cried into his chest. "Hello?" He could faintly hear what sounded like a woman in the background sobbing uncontrollably.

" _Oliver, Andy's been… Andy's been killed._ " Came the unexpected and entirely unwelcomed words from John Diggle who sounded like he was coming very close to losing a handle on his emotions.

Oliver couldn't speak and the phone fell from his hand and it made a clattering noise as he began to hold on to Thea just as tightly as she was to him and began to shed tears of his own into her hair. This would be a sight Moira and Walter would happen upon as one of Thea's friends stood near the door way of the living room watching the scene in front of her and looking really worried. Walter would pick up the phone to see who was on the other line as Moira came to her children and asked what was going on. An answer she would get from Oliver that would make her gasp as it quickly tore at her heart for she knew how much Thea had grown to like and love Andrew 'Andy' Diggle as an uncle.

**January 7th, 2011 2:00 PM at the Starway Cemetary**

The Queens, the Yamashiros, Ted Grant, Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, the Diggles, Tommy Merlyn, and many others were in attendance for the funeral of Andrew 'Andy' Diggle. John could be seen with an arm around Carly as she cried on him while her son was being held by his grandmother on Carly's side of the family. Oliver had been allowed to help carry Andy's casket to his grave in part due to the insistence of John and Carly as they felt he was family to them. The coroner's report and told the Diggle family that he'd been shot with a poisoned bullet and the poison itself was a very fast one that left the one hit by it dead in minutes. The poison had been identified as Curare and John silently had vowed to find whoever had done the deed and kill the bastard himself.

The police had ruled it as an accidental shooting by an in-experienced sniper but it had left little comfort for the grieving family and their friends. Oliver was likewise having similar thoughts to John's about finding and doing horrible things to the sniper before ultimately ending his or her life. "As we lay Andrew Diggle to rest, we must take comfort in knowing that he is now in the warm embrace of our Lord." Came the words of the priest as the casket had finished being lowered into the ground.

There was silence aside from those crying such as Thea, Carly, AJ, Moira, and various others. It should also be noted that Clarice the Client had been banned from attending the funeral since Carly had honestly felt that she was at fault for her husband's death and no one was fighting on her it as this wasn't the time for it.

Eventually, only Oliver and the Diggle family remained as the grave diggers began to place dirt on to Andy's grave. _I promise you Andy, I WILL find who did this._ Promised the grieving archer as he moved to sit next to the Diggles in silent support.

**Hong Kong**

At the elaborate mansion of the head Triad leader known as Zhishan, a meeting was being held with him and the rest of the Triad leaders as they discussed all business related to their organization. Business that also included Oliver Queen and what could be done next to permanently remove him from the Earth so that he would not be a further thorn in Triad affairs. What could happen with the women in his family could be decided later. It was then that Chien Na Wei came through the double doors of the meeting room with Ben Turner and several other low level Triad members trailing along behind her. "Good evening Gentlemen, I bring good news to you upon this day."

Zhishan was the first to beat the others to the punch by asking what news that could possibly be. "You need not worry further about Oliver Queen." She told her mentor and leader.

"Tā sǐle ne?"

The Triad Assassin shook her head in response to her mentor's question who only frowned at her as he wondered what could be the good news then.

"While the assignment you sent me on was a success, the task I went on in relation to Oliver Queen before it has become a success."

The leaders looked at one another as they muttered over the meaning of her words. But they would not speak as they would let Zhishan handle it as he was her mentor. "Ni yishi shi…?"

"That is correct, I am indeed pregnant with the child of Oliver Queen. And as such, the Triad need not bother with him and his family from this point on. As what I have planned will ultimately be his own undoing." She gave them a sinister smile while Turner was looking a little unhappy with the whole thing.

Zhishan nodded at her as he trusted her judgement of the situation. "Hen Hao, péiyǎng háizi liánghǎo bàgōng shí dì nà yīkè shì zhèngquè de."

Chien Na Wei nodded at her mentor's words with the full intention to do just that. As it would be most sweet when revenge would finally be had and by the hand of his own child no less! Zhishan gave her a nod to signify that if she had nothing else, then to take her leave. Something she did seconds later with Turner and the others not far behind. The leader and his associaties knew this would be a long term plan but they would allow the woman to do things her way. But should Oliver Queen interfere in their business again, they would strike regardless of Chien Na Wei's plan.

**January 7th, 2011 7:22 PM at the Foundry**

" _Bodyguard and family man Andrew 'Andy' Diggle was buried today at the Starway Cemetary after succumbing to a gunshot wound several days before. He is survived by his wife and child, Carly and AJ Diggle. There is some speculation however that his association with the Queen family may have been a potential cause for his assassination. An association that began when Andrew Diggle, along with his brother and veteran, John Diggle had been hired to watch after Thea Queen. Whether or not this is-_ "

Oliver had shut off the radio in disgust as he should have known those damned vultures would spin some kind of garbage like that. Though it did make him wonder if maybe it was less to do with the Queen side of things and more to do with him considering China White's attack on his sister and later him in revenge for getting her locked up. But if that was the case, then why not simply go for him instead? Was it some sick plot of hers to tear everything away from him before ending him after breaking him? He didn't know for sure but he would damn well do what he could to find out what he needed to know. Only God would have mercy for any unfortunate Triad member he came across in his search for answers.

A door then could be heard opening and then being slammed, making Oliver look up in the direction of it. "Alright Oliver, why the Hell am I here when I need to be back at Carly's with her and AJ?" Demanded a very unhappy John Diggle.

Oliver got up from where he'd been sitting against a wall and walked over to his friend. "I called you here cause I want to help you find whoever shot and killed Andy."

"No offense man, but you were pretty much born with a silver spoon in your mouth so even with that time you were gone, I doubt you're gonna be much help. Even with the money you have access too."

If Oliver was offended, he didn't show it in any way. "You'd be surprised Digg, I'm more then I look. Lian Yu and Hong Kong made sure of that." John scoffed a little at that but held his tongue for the time being.

"Come on, I want to show you something." Oliver told him and began walking towards an area of the vacant building.

John sighed but followed him anyway. To the veteran's confusion, he was led down a flight of steps to the basement of the Foundry that had a set of lights on, three computers going, a training mat, several weapons stations, a metal sharpener, and one Ted Grant doing a little shadow boxing. This only served to further John's confusion "Okay.. What the Hell is goin' on here?"

"This Digg, is how we're gonna help you find Andy's killer."

"Youngster's right, what happened ta Andy wasn't right and Ahm'a beat da fool black and blue fer doin' dat ta him."

"And we will assist in that endeavor Ted." Came the voice of Tatsu Yamshiro as she and Maseo appeared from the shadows and freaking out John a little.

"You know that story that's been going around awhile now about some weirdo in a hood with a bow?" Asked Oliver randomly as the grieving veteran tried to process all this.

"Yeah?"

Oliver stepped in front of him before answering. "I am that weirdo in a hood. And that's one of the ways I'm going to help you find Andy's killer."

That admission surprised the absolute Hell out of the man but he could see just how serious Queen and the others were being. "You guys really are serious about all this aren't you?" If they could pull it off, he would owe these four for life. His lack of being bothered by what he'd just learned should have worried him, but at this point he just didn't care as he wanted to find the bastard who killed his brother. As Carly and AJ deserved some form of peace of mind for why it had even happened.

"Yes, we are Digg." Replied Oliver as he held out a hand for him to grab and shake.

Diggle looked around the area again before finally looking Oliver right in the man's eyes. "Fine, you got a deal." And grabbed his hand and firmly shook it. He'd trust Oliver on this and hoped it wouldn't bite him in the ass in some way as justice had to happen for Andy no matter what.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Damn, I hadn't expected to get a little emotional myself as I wrote this.** **I think that might be why it took me a good while to write this out** **despite the fact** **I knew what was coming. Thank you all once again for having supported this story as it means a lot to me! A sequel will be coming that I will be calling 'Year One' but it might be awhile before I get to it as I had thought about getting a long term mu** **l** **t** **i** **-chaptered Doctor Who story I've had in mind for some time going.** **The dialogue from Zhishan is as follows: 'He is dead then?' 'Then that means...?' 'Very well, train the child well in order to strike when the time comes.'**

**And for those of you wondering what all I have in mind for the sequel…**

**L** **et's just say it involves a hate campaign Oliver and friends will be fighting against, Barry Allen, Smallville, Shadowspire, Green Lanterns, a wedding, happy pills, and a whole lot more.** **And I hope you'll all be along for the ride!**


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